Forest Paperboard Paper Wood Products Renewable Energy The year in brief 3 Holmen in brief CEO’s message 4 Strategy and targets 6 Forest 10 Paperboard 12 Paper 14 Forest Wood Products 16 Active and sustainable forestry is Renewable Energy 18 conducted on over a million hectares A sustainable business 20 of productive forest land owned by Holmen. The annual harvest amounts Environment 22 to 3 million cubic metres. Employees 24 UN Sustainable Development Goals 26 Corporate governance report 28 Paperboard Risk management 32 Paperboard in the premium consumer Shareholder information 36 packaging segment. Production, which takes place at one Swedish Financial statements 38 and one UK mill, amounts to 0.5 million tonnes a year. Notes 44 Proposed appropriation of profits 66 Auditor’s report 67 Review of Sustainability Report 69 Paper Board of Directors 70 Paper for magazines, books and Group management 72 advertising. The two Swedish mills produce a combined total Key figures 73 of 1 million tonnes per year. Ten-year review, finance 74 Five-year review, sustainability 76 Definitions, glossary and references 78 Wood Products Calendar 79 Wood products for the joinery and construction industries. The annual production at three The Board of Directors and the CEO of Holmen Aktiebolag (publ.), corporate sawmills amounts to just under identity number 556001-3301, submit their annual report for the parent 1 million cubic metres. The company and the Group for the 2018 financial year. The annual report com- prises the administration report (pages 2–3, 8–9, 23–24, 28–37, 66, 70–71) by-products are used in the and the financial statements, together with the notes and supplementary Group’s paperboard and information (pages 38–65). The statutory sustainability report in accordance paper mills. with the Annual Accounts Act is included in the annual report (pages 8–9, 23–24, 30, 31 and 33). The Group’s income statement and balance sheet and the parent company’s income statement and balance sheet will be adopted at the Annual General Meeting. The basis for the sustainability information presented is the sustainability issues identified as key in view of the materiality analysis conducted by Renewable Energy Holmen during the year. The sustainability work is reported in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative’s GRI guidelines at Core level. The Sus- In a normal year, the renewable tainability Report comprises pages 8–9, 20–27, 30, 31, 33, 76–77 and the GRI index on the website holmen.com. The information is audited by a third energy production from hydro and party, see separate assurance report at holmen.com. wind power amounts to over 1 TWh. This is a translation of the Swedish annual report of Holmen Aktiebolag (publ.). In the event of inconsistency between the English and the Swedish versions, the Swedish version shall prevail. A strong result Operating profit excluding items affecting com- Net sales and Operating profit/loss parability increased by SEK 310 million to SEK operating margin and return 2 476 million as a result of higher profits from forest SEKm % SEKm % 9.7 and wood products. Return on capital employed 20 000 20 2 500 2 476 10 16 055 increased to 10 per cent. The financial position has 16 000 16 2 000 8 15.4 been further strengthened, while at the same time 12 000 12 1 500 6 additional forest holdings have been gained through acquisitions. 8 000 8 1000 4 4 000 4 500 2 Demand for raw material from the forest was high in 2018, with pric- 0 0 0 0 es gradually rising. Despite difficult winter weather and fires over the 13 14 15 16 17 18 13 14 15 16 17 18 summer, profit from the forest increased by just over SEK 100 million. Revenue from hydro power climbed almost SEK 50 million due to ris- Net sales Operating profit/loss* ing electricity prices and a stepped reduction in property tax. Demand Operating margin* Return on capital employed* for paperboard grew solidly over the year, but profits dipped by SEK 75 million due to new capacity in the market increasing competition and *Excl. items affecting comparability *Excl. items affecting comparability making it difficult to pass on rising raw material costs to customers. The market situation for paper was good, with rising prices, but higher raw Cash flow, SEKm Debt/equity ratio, times mate rial costs limited growth in profits to SEK 40 million. The wood products market was strong, with significant price increases, which drove up the profit from wood products by over SEK 160 million. 3 000 0.5 2 500 0.4 Outlook. There is major competition for wood and the prices of 2 000 imported wood in particular are high. Holmen is establishing new 1 005 0.3 logistics solutions aimed at increasing the supply of wood from our own forests. Demand for paperboard is good, but competition has 0.2 1 000 grown. Holmen intends to develop its position in the premium seg- 1 092 0.1 0.12 ment, while also gradually ramping up production through targeted investments to eliminate bottlenecks. The market balance for paper is 0 0.0 good, but structural demand is falling. Holmen’s aim is to capture mar- 13 14 15 16 17 18 13 14 15 16 17 18 ket share by offering cost-effective alternatives to established products for books, magazines and advertising. Demand for wood products has Investments seen strong growth over the past couple of years, but the market situa- Dividend tion softened towards the end of 2018, leading to price drops in some Cash flow before investments markets. Holmen’s ambition is to develop the wood products business and change in working capital based on a strong cost position and good control over the raw mate rial, not least through the ongoing investment in increased production at Braviken Sawmill. The water levels in Holmen’s reservoirs were slightly Operating profit/loss* Capital employed* lower than normal by the end of 2018, which will restrict production Business area, % Business area, % in the first few months of 2019. 7 4 9 12 2018 2017 Key figures 8 13 Net sales, SEKm 16 055 16 133 45 57 Operating profit/loss, SEKm 2 382 2 166 20 Operating profit/loss excl. items affecting comparability, SEKm 2 476 2 166 26 Profit for the year, SEKm 2 268 1 668 Diluted earnings per share, SEK** 13.5 9.9 Dividend per share, SEK** 6.75* 6.5 Total: 2 476 Total: 26 261 Return on capital employed, % 9.7 8.7 Forest 1 185 SEKm Forest 14 830 SEKm Cash flow before investments, SEKm 2 286 2 509 Paperboard 689 SEKm Paperboard 5 316 SEKm Cash flow from investments, SEKm*** 1 005 644 Paper 329 SEKm Paper 2 072 SEKm Net financial debt, SEKm 2 807 2 936 Wood Products 246 SEKm Wood Products 927 SEKm Debt/equity ratio, times 0.12 0.13 Renewable Renewable Average number of employees (FTE) 2 955 2 984 Energy 181 SEKm Energy 3 052 SEKm *Board proposal **2017 figures have been adjusted because of the share split (2:1) in 2018 * Excl. items affecting comparability and *Excl. Group-wide ***Net after disposals and before changes in non-current financial receivables. Group-wide HOLMEN ANNUAL REPORT 2018 / THE YEAR IN BRIEF 3 2018 was a favourable year for us as forest owners. Dear Demand for raw material from the forest has risen steadi­ ly, driven by major expansions in the pulp and packaging shareholder industries across the Nordic region. Competition in the wood market became considerably tougher over the year with substantial price rises, which in turn drove up costs in our industry. Thanks to price rises for our end products, we have nevertheless managed to improve the Group’s profits by SEK 310 million and increase the return on capital employed to 10 per cent. 4 HOLMEN ANNUAL REPORT 2018 / CEO’S MESSAGE Customers and consumers are increasingly demanding sustain- able products and production methods. And we have a genuinely sustainable business. Strength in our own forest land ty in the market is increasing competition and making it difficult to pass The weather in 2018 was challenging for Swedish forestry. The begin- on rising raw material costs to our customers. Alongside our structured ning of the year was cold and wet with heavy snowfall, which hampered cost-cutting work, our ambition is to gradually increase production as harvesting and led to a nationwide wood shortage. Then came a histori- we grow with customers in the premium segment. cally hot and dry summer with extensive wildfires. Holmen was one of Holmen has succeeded in shifting its business from newsprint to the forest owners hit, but thanks to fast and decisive damage limitation book and magazine paper. Although demand for printing paper is gener- work, the fires will have no significant impact on our future harvests. ally falling, the segments that we have focused on remain comparative- The forest is extremely resilient. It can handle being managed and should ly stable. Over the year, we have been able to implement substantial price be managed, not least for the sake of the climate. increases, which have more than compensated for rising raw material We are constantly working to improve our forest holdings. A prime costs. The focus is now on ensuring good profitability for the long term example is the sale of a remote area of forest near the Norwegian bor- by advancing our position in book and magazine paper towards prod- der, which was followed by the purchase of Långvind, a forest property ucts that make the best use of fresh fibre.