Stora Enso Interim Report January-March 2026: Focus on our own actions drives results

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STORA ENSO OYJ INTERIM REPORT 7 May 2026 at 8:30 EEST

HELSINKI, May 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- 

Q1/2026 (year-on-year)

• Sales remained stable at EUR 2,358 (2,362) million, as higher deliveries were offset by negative foreign exchange rate changes.
• Adjusted EBIT decreased by 9% to EUR 159 (175) million, as lower wood costs were offset by negative net foreign exchange rate and the ramp-up at the Oulu site. The adjusted EBIT margin decreased to 6.7% (7.4%).
• Operating result (IFRS) was EUR 85 (171) million, including items affecting comparability of EUR -56 (-11) million, and fair valuations and other non-operational items of EUR -18 (7) million.
• Earnings per share were EUR 0.04 (0.14) and earnings per share excl. fair valuations (FV) were EUR 0.05 (0.13).
• The fair value of the forest assets was EUR 8.5 (9.3) billion, equivalent to EUR 10.76 per share, reflecting the impact of the divestment of 12.4% of forest assets in Sweden in 2025.
• Cash flow from operations amounted to EUR 125 (192) million, reflecting higher restructuring-related site closure expenses and higher working capital.
• Cash flow after investing activities improved to EUR -22 (-47) million, mainly due to lower cash spending on fixed assets.
• The net debt to adjusted EBITDA (LTM) ratio improved to 3.1 (3.2).

Key highlights

• Stora Enso continues the preparations for the separation of its Swedish forest assets business into a new publicly-listed company, expected to be completed during the first half of 2027.
• Stora Enso's strategic review of its Central European sawmills and building solutions operations is ongoing.
• The ramp-up of the consumer board line at the Oulu site in Finland continues, and the production volumes are gradually increasing. The line is expected to reach full capacity during 2027.
• Stora Enso's segment reporting changed as of 1 January 2026, and the Group has restated the comparative figures for its segment reporting for 2025.
• Stora Enso's Annual General Meeting on 24 March 2026 decided to distribute a dividend of EUR 0.25 per share for the year 2025 in two instalments, paid on 8 April 2026 and 2 October 2026

Outlook Q2/2026

• Market conditions remain challenging, with low consumer confidence and heightened geopolitical volatility.
• Geopolitical tensions, particularly the conflict in the Middle East, are expected to increase costs in 2026, especially for logistics, chemicals, and energy. The Group is working on measures to manage these pressures, but uncertainty persists regarding cost and market development.
• The ramp-up of the new production line in Oulu continues. In Q2, we expect the negative impact on adjusted EBIT to continue at a similar level as in Q1/2026.
• Planned maintenance activity in the second quarter is expected to be broadly in line with the first quarter of 2026.
• The divestment of 175,000 hectares of forest assets in Sweden, completed in 2025, will result in a reduction of annual adjusted EBIT of approximately EUR 20 million, with an estimated quarterly effect of approximately EUR 5 million.
• The operating income from emission rights in 2025 was about EUR 72 million, distributed evenly throughout the year. For 2026, the income from the sale of emission rights is projected to decrease to EUR 10–20 million. This decline results from changes in the EU ETS (Emissions Trading Scheme) rules: several sites will lose their free CO₂ allowance allocations from 2026 onward, as their emissions are now more than 95% biogenic, demonstrating the success of long-term emission-reduction initiatives.

Key figures

Stora Enso's President and CEO Hans Sohlström comments on the results:

The first quarter of 2026 developed largely as expected, with stable performance in a market that remains challenging. Demand in our main end markets stayed at relatively low levels, and pricing pressure persisted in some business segments, while prices firmed up and increased in others. While market conditions remain challenging, we continue to drive performance through our own actions across operations, costs, commercial excellence, and procurement. 

In the early part of the quarter, we saw a positive development in demand. However, towards the end of the quarter, geopolitical tensions escalated with the outbreak of the war in Iran. While the impact on the first quarter's performance was limited, these developments have increased uncertainty and are expected to affect the operating environment going forward. The situation adds to volatility and raises the risk of higher cost levels, particularly related to energy, logistics and other variable costs such as chemicals, with effects becoming more visible in the second quarter. 

Operationally, the ramp-up of the new consumer board line at Oulu continued. We focused on improving the technical runnability of production. This, in addition to the weak market, impacted profitability during the quarter and is expected to continue into the second quarter. While the ramp-up continues to impact short-term profitability, we remain confident in bringing the line to full operational performance during 2027. 

Preparations for the separation of our Swedish forest assets business, now named Bergslagets Skogar (formerly ForestCo), continued to progress as planned. A dedicated management team is in place, and we are preparing for a Capital Markets Day on 3 November 2026, which will provide further detail on the business, its strategy and financial profile. 

This quarter marks the first time we report under our new reporting structure, which reflects how we manage the business and how value is created across the Group. A key to value creation is the P&L responsibility across 6 Business Areas and 23 Business Units. I am pleased to see that this decentralised P&L responsibility is already having a positive effect through our leaders focusing on continuous profit improvement. This provides a strong foundation for performance culture going forward.

Our strategic priorities remain unchanged: 

• Lead in customer value creation through innovation, quality and sustainability
• Grow faster than market with superior customer offering, leading technology and operational efficiency
• Expand margin through business focus, a positive performance culture and systematic value creation
• Generate cash with high conversion ratio and disciplined capital allocation

We continue to strengthen our competitiveness and ability to deliver consistent performance regardless of external market volatility. 

I would like to thank our employees for their strong contribution at the start of the year. Together, we are building a stronger, more focused, and more sustainable Stora Enso.

Webcast for analysts, investors, and media 
Stora Enso's President and CEO Hans Sohlström and CFO Niclas Rosenlew will present the results in a webcast today starting at 11:00 am EEST (10:00 CEST, 9:00 BST, 4:00 EST). The live the webcast can be accessed using the following link: https://stora-enso-q1-earnings-presentation-2026.open-exchange.net/.

During the webcast presentation, analysts and investors will also have the possibility to ask questions. To participate in the teleconference, please choose the "Teleconference" option on the homepage of the webcast. Recording of the webcast will be available shortly after the event at the same address and at storaenso.com.

Media representatives who wish to ask questions after the publication of the report may contact Hanna Rutanen, SVP Communications at Stora Enso on +358 41 507 1361

Save the date: Bergslagets Skogar will organise a Capital Markets Day on 3 November 2026 in Stockholm.

This release is a summary of Stora Enso's Interim Report January–March 2026. The complete report is attached to this release as a pdf file, and it is also available on the company website.

For further information, please contact:
Jutta Mikkola
SVP Investor Relations
tel. +358 50 544 6061

Hanna Rutanen
SVP Communications
Tel. +358 41 507 1361

Stora Enso is a global leader in renewable materials with a strong focus on packaging. Our purpose is to replace non-renewable materials with renewable solutions. Together with our customers, we design and deliver competitive, high-quality packaging materials and solutions, made from fresh and recycled fibers, accelerating the transition to a circular bioeconomy. Stora Enso has approximately 19,000 employees and our sales in 2025 were EUR 9.3 billion. Stora Enso's shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Oy (STEAV, STERV) and Nasdaq Stockholm AB (STE A, STE R). In addition, the shares are traded on OTC Markets (OTCQX) in the USA as ADRs and ordinary shares (SEOAY, SEOFF, SEOJF). storaenso.com/investors

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