Q2 2026 Holmen AB Earnings Call Transcript
Key Points
- Holmen AB (STU:HL9C) delivered a solid Q2 result, with strong performance from the Board and Paper division driven by high deliveries and good order books.
- The Energy division maintained a good profit level in Q2 despite lower prices, benefiting from a more normal hydrological balance and the ability to save curtailed hydropower for later production.
- Wood costs are trending downward, providing tailwinds for Wood Products and Board and Paper, with expectations of continued low single-digit decreases in Q3.
- Holmen AB (STU:HL9C) has a strong financial position and returned approximately SEK2.5 billion to shareholders through dividends and buybacks in the first half of the year.
- The company is exploring new business opportunities in renewable energy, such as helping establish AI centers in northern Sweden, leveraging its land and fossil-free electricity access.
- The Forest division faced lower wood prices and increased harvesting costs of SEK10-15 million in Q2 due to storm felling, with a full-year impact of SEK30-40 million and reduced own harvesting volumes.
- Wood Products continued to report losses, albeit reduced to SEK50 million in Q2, due to weak demand in the US and Europe and high wood costs.
- The company is consuming a 'backpack' of wood purchased at higher prices, which will delay the benefit of lower market wood prices and prolong cost pressure.
- Board and Paper markets remain challenging with overcapacity and low operating rates (around 75% for board), though Holmen AB (STU:HL9C) is performing better than the market.
- Q3 is expected to be seasonally weaker with lower delivery volumes and maintenance shutdown costs of approximately SEK150 million, potentially impacting results.
Good morning, and welcome to the interim report presentation for the Holmen Group. It's me, Henrik Sjolund and Stefan Lorehn. We will go through the presentation. And as we usually do, we take all the questions you have after the presentation. So let's start.
Well, in the second quarter, first of all, the result, we were able to produce a really good result, at least a solid result, quite similar to the previous quarters. If you look at the year, though, we can see quite big changes between last year and this year, especially in the beginning of this year, we had a really good contribution from our Energy division. And now in the second quarter, we also see deliveries from Board and Paper.
Our financial position is strong. And during the first half of the year, we have also distributed roughly SEK2.5 billion to our shareholders through dividend and buybacks. Let's start with our Forest division or, let's say, the wood market and the situation right now. It's clearly so that we have a lower wood prices. And if you
| Access to All Earning Calls and Stock Analysis | |
| 30-Year Financial on one screen | |
| All-in-one Stock Screener with unlimited filters | |
| Customizable Stock Dashboard | |
| Real Time Insider Trading Transactions | |
| 8,000+ Institutional investors’ 13F holdings | |
| Powerful Excel Add-in and Google sheets Add-on | |
| All data downloadable | |
| Quick customer support | |
| And much more... |
Trustpilot
We'd love to learn more about your experiences on GuruFocus.com and how we can improve!
Take Survey
