Forestry firm Stora Enso beats Q1 profit expectations in tough environment
07/05/2026 08:06
May 7 (Reuters) - Finland's Stora Enso STERV.HE reported a first-quarter operating profit above market expectations on Thursday, but warned that market conditions remained challenging in the forestry industry. Stora Enso's adjusted operating profit fell 9% to 159 million euros ($187 million), as lower wood costs were offset by a hit from foreign exchange rates and ramp-up costs of a new product line at the company's Oulu site, it said. Analysts polled by Vara had expected adjusted EBIT of 128.5 million euros on average The company's shares rose 4.4% in early Helsinki trading The ramp-up in Oulu continues in Q2; Stora expects the negative impact on earnings to be at a similar level as in Q1 Net foreign exchange rates had a negative 10 million euro impact on adjusted EBIT, compared to Q4 of last year Finnish peer UPM UPM.HE last week reported Q1 profit above market expectations, driven by strong results in its energy business amid high winter electricity prices ($1 = 0.8510 euros) (Reporting by Elviira Luoma, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak) ((Elviira.luoma@thomsonreuters.com))