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Medical fabrics maker Ahlstrom drastically cuts Q2 losses

07 Aug '14

3 min read

In the second quarter period ending June 30, 2014, Finnish medical fabrics producer Ahlstrom managed to drastically reduce its losses when compared to the same period, a year earlier. Ahlstrom was also able to report higher operating profit, while also improving its operating margins.

In the second quarter of 2014, net sales at Ahlstrom fell to EUR 253.0 million from EUR 265.0 from a year ago period. On the other, hand operating profit rose to EUR 9.6 million from EUR 6.4 million from the same quarter of 2013.

The operating profit excluding non-recurring items shot up to EUR 13.4 million in the quarter under review against EUR 7.9 million in second quarter of 2013. Operating margin excluding non-recurring items also rose to 5.3% from 3.0%.

Ahlstrom however was able to drastically cut its losses in the second quarter. Loss before taxes slipped to just EUR 0.4 million from a loss of EUR 3.5 million in the same quarter of 2013.

The impact of reduction in losses and increase in operating profit was visible on the Ahlstrom EPS. EPS rose to a negative EUR -0.07 from a negative EUR 0.12.

During the quarter, Ahlstrom reported a clear improvement in the profitability of its four business segments like Advanced Filtration, Building and Energy, Food and Transportation Filtration and new products were introduced to accelerate growth and improve the sales mix and profit margin.

The operating environment in Ahlstrom's main markets in the second quarter of 2014 improved slightly from the comparison period and was in line with the first quarter of this year.

Among its various segments, growth continued in the gas turbine and industrial filtration applications in the Advanced Filtration business area, particularly in North America and Asia. The markets for laboratory and life science, water and high efficiency air applications were somewhat softer.

In the Medical business area, demand for medical fabrics was stable in Europe and North America, while it strengthened in Asia, supported by the growing trend for single-use products.

In the Transportation Filtration business area, solid growth continued in the transportation filtration materials markets in Asia, North America and Europe. In South America, the market continued to show positive signs following a slowdown in the second half of 2013.

Ahlstrom said that its outlook published on January 30, 2014 for 2014 remains unchanged. Net sales are expected to be EUR 930-1,090 million. The operating profit margin excluding non-recurring items is expected to be 2-5% of net sales.

Marco Levi, President & CEO said, “I am very pleased that our ongoing rightsizing program is progressing as planned and the benefits can already be seen in our operating result. The program has yielded clear reductions in selling, general and administrative costs, along with production overheads".

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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Medical fabrics maker Ahlstrom drastically cuts Q2 losses

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