UPM reports major profit decline in Q3

The Finnish forest industry company UPM on Tuesday reported a major profit decline in the third quarter (Q3) of 2020, reported Xinhua.

According to a company press release, UPM's profit declined by 37 percent in the July-September period to 215 million euros from 342 million euros last year. The company's sales totaled 2,028 million euros, a decline of 464 million euros from the corresponding period of 2019.

Jussi Pesonen, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of UPM, noted that despite the weak paper markets and low pulp prices, the company's profitability improved slightly compared to the previous quarter.

Pesonen underlined the importance of decisive restructuring and efficiency improvement. Since the start of the second quarter, UPM has closed a plywood mill in Finland and a paper mill in France. It will close another paper mill in Finland by the end of the year and sell a paper mill in Wales. These will result in annual cost savings of approximately 130 million euros.

UPM's large construction projects in Uruguay and Germany proceed on schedule, said the company.

UPM has helped Finnish officials in procuring 30 million protective face masks and has donated 500,000 masks to health care and educational facilities and nursing homes in each of the countries where it operates.