Spain-based paper mill company Europac Group has increased its net profit by 81.8% to £58.2m for the first nine months of the year compared to the same period last year.
The company made a turnover of €876.9m in the reported period, marking a growth of 9.7% from last year. The consolidated EBITDA moved up to €118.3m, an increase of 31.6% while EBIT reached €78m, an increase by 44.7%.
Europac has attributed its results to the increase in sales prices of kraftliner and recycled papers in a year which it says saw steady improvements.
The Chinese curbs on imports of recovered paper had resulted in a spike in the availability of the raw material in Europe and a decline in prices of €50 per tonne since August, stated the paper mill company.
Europac expects the current situation it finds in to carry on throughout next year due to the strong final demand and reduced level of stocks of finished products.
Europac chairman José Miguel Isidro said: “The stability of the current market conditions, with strong final demand and stocks at minimum levels, allows us to forecast that tension in paper sales prices will remain.
“In addition, it should be remembered that the latest price rises in kraftliner and recycled papers that took place in August will have full effect in the last quarter of 2017, thus generating extremely positive expectations for the last quarter of the year, which we estimate will continue over 2018”.
Europac says that going forward, it will carry on streamlining its costs and enhance operations. It will also continue to enlarge its commercial activity as a tool for growth and create greater added value projects.
