Setra is reporting a boost in earnings of SEK 303 million in Q1 2022 compared with the same period last year. This increase was largely due to high selling prices as a result of strong market development.
“The healthy demand and robust price levels we have seen in the first quarter look like they’re continuing in Q2. Our employees deserve huge praise for the level of responsibility they demonstrate every day. The challenges of high Covid-related absences required a particularly high degree of flexibility in the first half of this quarter,” says Setra’s CEO Katarina Levin.
Setra’s future, like the future for wood in general, looks positive over both the short and long term. There are, however, some dark clouds on the horizon, concerning the security situation in Europe, the global economy after the pandemic and political oppositions to the sustainable forest management practices that we are used to in Sweden. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is affecting the global wood products market and entails sharply rising costs and turbulence in the logistics area, but it is too early to draw any far-reaching conclusions about the impact of the conflict on Setra’s business. Setra is monitoring the tragic events daily and above all our thoughts are with the people of Ukraine in these very dark times for the world.
The strategic investment project for greater efficiency in primary production is continuing as planned, as is work on the application for a new operational permit for Kastet sawmill, covering a production volume of 700,000 m3 (currently 390,000 m3).
Cash flow from operating activities in the first quarter amounted to SEK 8 million (-85). Net cash totalled SEK 1,563 million (280) at the end of the period.
| Key figures* | Jan–March (3 months) | |||||
| 2022 | 2021 | |||||
| Net sales, SEKm | 1,834 | 1,184 | ||||
| Operating profit/loss, SEKm | 480 | 177 | ||||
| Profit/loss after tax, SEKm | 378 | 137 | ||||
| Operating margin, % | 26.2 | 14.9 | ||||
| Return on operating capital, %, RTM | 95,3 | 16.6 | ||||
| Cash flow from operating activities, SEKm | 8 | -85 | ||||
* Setra does not publish a complete period-end report.
