- Profit after financial items amounted to MSEK 4,741 (1999: 2,409). The profit includes items affecting comparability of MSEK 2,023.
- The fourth quarter profit amounted to MSEK 424, which may be compared with MSEK 660 (excluding items affecting comparability) for the third quarter. The decline in the result for the fourth quarter was mainly due to higher production costs, partly seasonal, a deterioration in the result of the UK-based paperboard business and a provision for structuring costs.
- The net profit after tax for the year amounted to MSEK 3,972 (1,814), which corresponds to earnings per share of SEK 45.90 (20.40). The return on equity was 22.4 per cent (10.6).
- The Board proposes to pay a dividend of SEK 69 (11) per share, of which SEK 9 ordinary dividend and SEK 60 extra dividend.
- Demand for newsprint and magazine paper remained very firm. During the fourth quarter Holmen Paper's deliveries were high, capacity was utilised to the full, order situation was strong, and prices stable. The price of Holmen Paper's products has been possible to raise with effect from the start of 2001.
- A first half-year with strong demand for paperboard was followed by a more slackened order intake during the second half of the year, and paperboard producers were therefore only partly able to implement the price increases they had announced. Iggesund Paperboard's deliveries remained unchanged during the fourth quarter.