Aspo - Company Announcement

Aspo Capital Markets Day: Aspo to increase its minimum objective for operating profit and make business-specific investments in growth

ASPO PLC     STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE      November 26, 2015, at 08:15 a.m.

Aspo Capital Markets Day: Aspo to increase its minimum objective for operating
profit and make business-specific investments in growth

As announced previously, Aspo Group will today, on November 26, 2015, starting
at 9:00 a.m., be holding a Capital Markets Day in Helsinki. At the event, the
management of Aspo will present the company's strategy and the development
phases of its business operations. In addition, the management of Aspo's
business operations will present the strategy of each business and their
position in their various market areas. Finnish presentation material will be
available today at 9:00 a.m. on the company's website at www.aspo.com.

Aspo will revise its financial objectives. With the current structure, the
company is looking for an operating profit rate of 7 percent. The previous
target was to reach an operating profit rate that would be closer to 10 percent
than 5 percent. Other financial objectives, i.e. an average return on equity of
over 20 percent and gearing of up to 100 percent, will remain unchanged.

Aspo Group's strategy will not be changed. The key strengths of the strategy are
diversity, operating in eastern growth markets and the ability to implement
structural changes. Aspo will keep its dividend distribution policy unchanged
and, on average, will distribute at least half of the annual profit in
dividends.

The guidance for 2015 repeated in the January-September interim report will
remain unchanged. Aspo's result will increase from 2014 or remain at the same
level.

New multi-year contract with SSAB enables investments in the world's first LNG-
fueled large bulk carriers

ESL Shipping, a carrier of dry bulk cargo, and the steel producer SSAB have
signed a long-term frame contract on the sea transportation of SSAB's incoming
raw materials in the Baltic Sea and from the North Sea. The current total sea
transportation volume within the scope of the contract is estimated to be six to
seven million tons a year.

As a result of the contract, ESL Shipping has designed and ordered the world's
first large bulk carriers fueled by liquefied natural gas (LNG). The new vessels
are the most effective in the world in terms of energy consumption and
technology. This investment raises the global dry cargo sea transportation
capacity to a whole new sustainable level when it comes to environmental impact.
CO(2) emissions per transported ton of cargo will decrease by more than 50
percent compared with the current technology. The two ice-reinforced dry cargo
vessels of 25,600 DWT have been designed in Finland by Deltamarin Ltd and will
be built in China at Sinotrans & CSC Qingshan Shipyard. The vessels will start
operating in the Baltic Sea in early 2018. The total value of the investment is
approximately EUR 60 million. The investment cash flow will be divided
progressively between 2015 and 2018.


In addition, ESL Shipping has signed a contract on the transportation of
biofuels with AB Fortum Värme. The contract provides ESL Shipping with access to
the renewable energy transportation market. Transportation to the new
Värtahamnen energy port in Stockholm will start later this year.

Leipurin to expand to out-of-home eating and recruit a new managing director

Leipurin, a provider of raw materials, machinery and services for the food
industry, will present its revised strategy at the Capital Markets Day. The most
significant change is that the company will expand its services from industrial
baking to out-of-home eating in the hotel, restaurant and catering market. Out-
of-home eating will grow rapidly in Leipurin's market area, while the growth of
the bakery industry will remain moderate.

Leipurin's Board of Directors has started a process to recruit a new managing
director to support the implementation of the new strategy. Managing Director
Paul Taimitarha will continue in his position until the appointment of the new
managing director, after which he will be appointed member the Board of
Directors of Leipurin Plc.

Telko to expand in Finland, Kaukomarkkinat to provide solutions for mobile data-
based work

The operations of Telko, an expert in industrial plastic raw materials and
chemicals, will grow in Finland. Finland's market leader Castrol has assigned
Telko as a representative of its vehicle and motor oil business, totaling EUR
11 million in net sales. The operations will start during the first quarter of
2016.

Kaukomarkkinat, focusing on professional and industrial electronics, has also
revised its strategy. The company will transform from a technical wholesaler
into a provider of solutions for mobile data-based work. Its existing customer
references and its position as the market leader in Finland in the field of
rugged computers and tablets, enable profitable growth in the digitizing working
environment.

The Board of Directors of Kaukomarkkinat will be changed to support the new
strategy. Aki Ojanen, CEO of Aspo Plc, will continue as chairman and Pirja
Heiskanen, vice president at Futurice Oy, will continue as an ordinary member.
Hanna-Mari Parkkinen, group business design director at Fjord Design &
Innovation, part of Accenture Interactive, has been appointed a new member of
the Board of Directors.

ASPO Plc

Aki Ojanen
CEO

Further information:
Aki Ojanen, CEO of Aspo Plc, tel. +358 9 521 4010, aki.ojanen@aspo.com

Distribution:
NASDAQ OMX Helsinki
Key Media
www.aspo.com

Aspo is a conglomerate that owns and develops business operations in Northern
Europe and growth markets focusing on demanding B-to-B customers. Our strong
company brands - ESL Shipping, Leipurin, Telko and Kaukomarkkinat - aim to be
the market leaders in their sectors. They are responsible for their own
operations, customer relationships and the development of these. Together they
generate Aspo's goodwill. Aspo's Group structure and business operations are
continually developed without any predefined schedules.



[HUG#1969492]