Metsä Board Corporation Stock exchange release Changes board/management/auditors
31 July 2025 9:30 am EEST
To accelerate the implementation of the cost savings and profitability
improvement program announced on 31 July 2025 by Metsä Board Corporation, part
of Metsä Group, and to enhance customer-centricity, changes to the company's
corporate management team have been decided today. These changes will take
effect on 1 August 2025. As a result, the composition and number of members of
the company's Board of Directors will also change.
M.Sc. (Econ.) Erja Hyrsky has been appointed SVP, Commercial Operations. Hyrsky
has been a member of Metsä Board's Board of Directors since 2021 and has
previously held several business leadership roles, most recently at Unilever.
She will resign from the Board of Directors of Metsä Board immediately.
Following her resignation, the Board of Directors will consist of eight (8)
members, which meets the requirements of the Articles of Association, and
therefore no replacement is necessary.
M.Sc. (Econ.) Minna Björkman has been appointed SVP, Containerboard. She will
start in early 2026 and joins the company from Stora Enso, where she has held
several business leadership roles.
M.Sc. (Tech.) Jussi Noponen has been appointed SVP, Production and Supply Chain.
Noponen has held various expert and leadership roles in finance within Metsä
Group since 2000, including CFO of Metsä Board (2016-2021) and most recently as
SVP, Sales and Supply Chain since 2021. He has been a member of the company's
corporate management team since 2016.
M.Sc. (Tech.) Laura Remes, appointed in October 2024 as SVP, Business
Development, has been appointed SVP, Business Transformation. She will start at
the latest on 6 October 2025. As previously announced, she joins Metsä Board
from UPM, where she held various business development and leadership roles.
Henri Sederholm will continue as CFO, a role he has held since 2021, and Camilla
Wikström will continue as SVP, HR, a role she has held since 2019.
As part of the upcoming changes, Markku Leskelä and Harri Pihlajaniemi will step
down from the company's Corporate Management Team as of August 1, 2025. Markku
Leskelä will continue with the company as a Senior Advisor until the end of
January 2026. Harri Pihlajaniemi's tenure with the company will come to an end,
and we wish him every success in his future endeavours. The company extends its
sincere thanks to both of them for their valuable contributions to Metsä Board.
CEO Esa Kaikkonen states: “Customer- and market-driven growth requires strong,
new kinds of expertise. The changes announced today support this development. We
need a clear and transformative approach to respond to the challenges of the
operating environment and targeted actions that require fresh thinking,
efficiency, and agility.”
As of 1 August 2025, the Metsä Board Corporate Management Team will consist of
(additions that will enter into force at a later date are indicated in
parentheses):
· Esa Kaikkonen, CEO
· Minna Björkman, SVP, Containerboard (from 5 January 2026)
· Erja Hyrsky, SVP, Commercial Operations
· Jussi Noponen, SVP, Production and Supply Chain
· Laura Remes, SVP, Business Transformation (no later than 6 October 2025)
· Henri Sederholm, CFO
· Camilla Wikström, SVP, HR
Metsä Board will maintain its current external reporting structure.
Photos for media use: https://databank.metsagroup.com/l/6jLhjdrW-nqw.
METSÄ BOARD CORPORATION
Further information:
Esa Kaikkonen, CEO, tel. +358 10 465 4300
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 fresh wood fibres we use in our
products are a renewable and recyclable resource, that can be traced back to
Northern European forests. We aim to have completely fossil-free mills and raw
materials by 2030. We promote a culture of diversity, equality and inclusion.
Metsä Board is listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki. In 2024 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 over 90,000 Finnish
forest owners.
Follow Metsä Board:
LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/metsa
-board/) Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/metsaboard/?hl=en)
YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF6CD152EF0DA1E61)