Aspo Capital Markets Day: Aspo to increase its minimum objective for operating profit and make business-specific investments ...
November 26 2015 - 1:15AM
ASPO PLC STOCK EXCHANGE
RELEASE November 26, 2015, at
08:15 a.m.
Aspo Capital Markets Day: Aspo to increase its
minimum objective for operating profit and make business-specific
investments in growth
As announced previously, Aspo Group will today, on November 26,
2015, starting at 9:00 a.m., be holding a Capital Markets Day in
Helsinki. At the event, the management of Aspo will present the
company's strategy and the development phases of its business
operations. In addition, the management of Aspo's business
operations will present the strategy of each business and their
position in their various market areas. Finnish presentation
material will be available today at 9:00 a.m. on the company's
website at www.aspo.com.
Aspo will revise its financial objectives. With the current
structure, the company is looking for an operating profit rate of 7
percent. The previous target was to reach an operating profit rate
that would be closer to 10 percent than 5 percent. Other financial
objectives, i.e. an average return on equity of over 20 percent and
gearing of up to 100 percent, will remain unchanged.
Aspo Group's strategy will not be changed. The key strengths of the
strategy are diversity, operating in eastern growth markets and the
ability to implement structural changes. Aspo will keep its
dividend distribution policy unchanged and, on average, will
distribute at least half of the annual profit in
dividends.
The guidance for 2015 repeated in the January-September interim
report will remain unchanged. Aspo's result will increase from 2014
or remain at the same level.
New multi-year contract with SSAB enables
investments in the world's first LNG-fueled large bulk
carriers
ESL Shipping, a carrier of dry bulk cargo,
and the steel producer SSAB have signed a long-term frame contract
on the sea transportation of SSAB's incoming raw materials in the
Baltic Sea and from the North Sea. The current total sea
transportation volume within the scope of the contract is estimated
to be six to seven million tons a year.
As a result of the contract, ESL Shipping has designed and ordered
the world's first large bulk carriers fueled by liquefied natural
gas (LNG). The new vessels are the most effective in the world in
terms of energy consumption and technology. This investment raises
the global dry cargo sea transportation capacity to a whole new
sustainable level when it comes to environmental impact.
CO2 emissions per
transported ton of cargo will decrease by more than 50 percent
compared with the current technology. The two ice-reinforced dry
cargo vessels of 25,600 DWT have been designed in Finland by
Deltamarin Ltd and will be built in China at Sinotrans & CSC
Qingshan Shipyard. The vessels will start operating in the Baltic
Sea in early 2018. The total value of the investment is
approximately EUR 60 million. The investment cash flow will be
divided progressively between 2015 and 2018.
In addition, ESL Shipping has signed a contract on the
transportation of biofuels with AB Fortum Värme. The contract
provides ESL Shipping with access to the renewable energy
transportation market. Transportation to the new Värtahamnen energy
port in Stockholm will start later this year.
Leipurin to expand to out-of-home eating and
recruit a new managing director
Leipurin, a provider of raw materials,
machinery and services for the food industry, will present its
revised strategy at the Capital Markets Day. The most significant
change is that the company will expand its services from industrial
baking to out-of-home eating in the hotel, restaurant and catering
market. Out-of-home eating will grow rapidly in Leipurin's market
area, while the growth of the bakery industry will remain
moderate.
Leipurin's Board of Directors has started a process to recruit a
new managing director to support the implementation of the new
strategy. Managing Director Paul Taimitarha
will continue in his position until the appointment of the new
managing director, after which he will be appointed member the
Board of Directors of Leipurin Plc.
Telko to expand in Finland, Kaukomarkkinat to
provide solutions for mobile data-based work
The operations of Telko, an expert in
industrial plastic raw materials and chemicals, will grow in
Finland. Finland's market leader Castrol has assigned Telko as a
representative of its vehicle and motor oil business, totaling EUR
11 million in net sales. The operations will start during the first
quarter of 2016.
Kaukomarkkinat, focusing on professional and industrial
electronics, has also revised its strategy. The company will
transform from a technical wholesaler into a provider of solutions
for mobile data-based work. Its existing customer references and
its position as the market leader in Finland in the field of rugged
computers and tablets, enable profitable growth in the digitizing
working environment.
The Board of Directors of Kaukomarkkinat will be changed to support
the new strategy. Aki Ojanen, CEO of Aspo Plc,
will continue as chairman and Pirja Heiskanen,
vice president at Futurice Oy, will continue as an ordinary member.
Hanna-Mari Parkkinen, group business design
director at Fjord Design & Innovation, part of Accenture
Interactive, has been appointed a new member of the Board of
Directors.
ASPO Plc
Aki Ojanen
CEO
Further information:
Aki Ojanen, CEO of Aspo Plc, tel. +358 9 521 4010,
aki.ojanen@aspo.com
Distribution:
NASDAQ OMX Helsinki
Key Media
www.aspo.com
Aspo is a conglomerate that owns and develops business operations
in Northern Europe and growth markets focusing on demanding B-to-B
customers. Our strong company brands - ESL Shipping, Leipurin,
Telko and Kaukomarkkinat - aim to be the market leaders in their
sectors. They are responsible for their own operations, customer
relationships and the development of these. Together they generate
Aspo's goodwill. Aspo's Group structure and business operations are
continually developed without any predefined schedules.
This
announcement is distributed by NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions on
behalf of NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions clients.
The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely
responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the
information contained therein.
Source: Aspo Oyj via Globenewswire
HUG#1969492