Stora Enso Strengthens its Strategic Leverage Targets

News provided by

Jul 20, 2018, 04:08 ET

HELSINKI, Finland, July 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

STORA ENSO OYJ INVESTOR NEWS 20 July 2018 at 9.29 EEST

Stora Enso sets new target levels for Net Debt / Operational EBITDA and Debt/equity Ratio.

Stora Enso's transformation into a renewable materials growth company has been successful. Strong cash flow generation combined with sale of non-core assets has strengthened the balance sheet considerably. The Group also continues to keep its annual capital expenditure at or below the level of depreciation and the operational decrease in the value of biological assets over the business cycle, as announced earlier. Even with the new, more rigorous financial policy, Stora Enso expects to maintain the level of strategic flexibility needed.

To enforce its commitment to the efficient management of capital, the Group has decided to introduce new, stricter targets for Net Debt / Operational EBITDA and Debt/equity Ratio, reducing the target levels from <3.0 to <2.0 and from <0.8 to <0.6 respectively, thus reflecting the Group's strong cash flow generation capabilities and higher profitability levels.

Other strategic targets remain unchanged. The policy will be effective immediately.

Stora Enso's Financial Target



		Target	Old Target

Group	ROCE	>13%	>13%

	Net debt / operational EBITDA	NEW <2.0x	<3.0x
	Dividend	To distribute 50% of net income over the cycle	To distribute 50% of net income over the cycle
	Net debt/equity ratio	NEW <0.6	<0.8

	Net sales growth excl. Paper	To grow faster than the relevant market	To grow faster than the relevant market

	Fixed costs / sales	<20%	<20%

Consumer Board	ROOC	>20%	>20%

Packaging Solutions	ROOC	>20%	>20%

Biomaterials	ROOC	>15%	>15%

Wood Products	ROOC	>20%	>20%

Paper	Cash flow after investing activities / sales	>7%	>7%

ROCE = Operative Return on Capital Employed

ROOC = Operative Return on Operating Capital

Part of the bioeconomy, Stora Enso is a leading global provider of renewable solutions in packaging, biomaterials, wooden constructions and paper. We believe that everything that is made from fossil-based materials today can be made from a tree tomorrow. Stora Enso has some 26 000 employees in over 30 countries. Our sales in 2017 were EUR 10 billion. Stora Enso shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki (STEAV, STERV) and Nasdaq Stockholm (STE A, STE R). In addition, the shares are traded in the USA as ADRs (SEOAY). storaenso.com

STORA ENSO OYJ

For further information, please contact:
Ulrika Lilja
EVP, Communications
tel. +46-72-221-9228

Investor enquiries:

Ulla Paajanen-Sainio
SVP, Investor Relations
tel. +358-40-763-8767

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

http://news.cision.com/stora-enso-oyj/r/stora-enso-strengthens-its-strategic-leverage-targets,c2578865