Metsä Board Corporation Stock exchange release Other information disclosed
according to the rules of the Exchange 24 October 2024 at 9.00 a.m. EET
Metsä Board Corporation's (“Metsä Board”) Board of Directors has decided to
renew the company's dividend policy. The new dividend policy supports Metsä
Board's strategy to grow in fibre-based packaging materials and renew its
industrial operations.
The new dividend policy is: Metsä Board's target is to distribute a dividend of
at least half of the result for the financial period over time, taking into
account the company's future investment and development needs.
The previous dividend policy was: Metsä Board's target is to distribute a
dividend of at least 50% of the result for the financial period.
Metsä Board aims to allocate its capital in a way that best supports value
creation in the long term. The company has several planned development
investments to improve the competitiveness of existing mills and products, and
to support the target of fossil-free production. Dividends will continue to be
an essential element of capital allocation. Metsä Board also aims to maintain a
strong balance sheet: the ratio of interest-bearing net debt to comparable
EBITDA should not exceed 2.5.
Over the past five years (2019-2023), Metsä Board's investments have amounted to
approximately EUR 1 billion. Of the net result for the same period, the company
has paid dividends and capital repayments of approximately EUR 620 million,
which corresponds to approximately 56% of the accumulated net result. At the end
of 2023, the ratio of interest-bearing net debt to comparable EBITDA was 0.7.
METSÄ BOARD CORPORATION
Further information:
Henri Sederholm, CFO, tel. +358 10 465 4913
Katri Sundström, VP, Investor Relations, tel. +358 10 462 0101
Metsä Board
metsagroup.com/metsaboard (http://www.metsagroup.com/metsaboard/)
Metsä Board is a producer of lightweight and high-quality folding boxboards,
food service boards and white kraftliners. The pure fresh fibres we use in our
products are a safe, renewable and recyclable resource, that can be traced back
to northern forests. We aim to have completely fossil free mills and raw
materials by the end of 2030. We promote a culture of diversity, equality and
inclusion.
Metsä Board is listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki. In 2023 our sales totalled EUR 1.9
billion, and we have around 2,300 employees. Metsä Board is part of Metsä Group,
whose parent company Metsäliitto Cooperative is owned by more than 90,000
Finnish forest owners. The sales of the whole Metsä Group were EUR 6.1 billion.
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