Altri increases production during the pandemic. But net profit down 81%

  • ECO News
  • 29 May 2020

In the first quarter, the pulp manufacturer increased production and sales. However, the fall in the price of raw materials in international markets penalized the company.

Altri earned 6.8 million euros in the first three months of the year. Even with the increase in production and sales, the impact of the pandemic on pulp prices led the net result to sink 81% compared to the same period last year.

“The fall in net results is explained almost entirely by the fall of around 30% in pulp prices on international markets, since the remaining items remained at similar levels in the two quarters under review,” explains the company in a statement sent to the Securities Market Commission (CMVM).

Despite the larger quantity of pulp produced and sold, Altri’s total revenues reached 165.7 million euros, which corresponds to a decrease of about 20% compared to the same period last year. “The increase in pulp production and sales was not enough to offset the fall in pulp prices on the international markets,” Altri points out.

Operating costs slid by 0.2% to 132.5 million euros and the company expects to continue cutting. Altri is “reassessing the cost-benefit of the portfolio projects, as well as their feasibility, considering the current reality,” it says about future prospects.

It also announces that it is carrying out “an internal review and evaluation process on the investments it had planned for the 2020 financial year”. From this process of reviewing the cost/benefit of projects in the portfolio during a global pandemic, the company has decided to “reschedule the understanding of some projects in the amount of approximately 9 million euros.”