Raute Corporation, Stock exchange release, August 12, 2025, at 8:30 a.m. EEST
Raute Corporation's Half-Year Financial Report January 1-June 30, 2025: Profitability continued to increase, business environment remained uncertain
This is a summary of Raute's Half-Year Financial Report January-June 2025. The full report is attached as a PDF file with this release and is also available on the company's website at www.raute.com.
RAUTE CORPORATION - HALF-YEAR FINANCIAL REPORT JANUARY-JUNE 2025
Figures in brackets refer to the same period a year earlier. Figures are unaudited and rounded to the nearest whole number.
April-June 2025 in brief
- Order intake was EUR 12 million (20)
- Order book was EUR 115 million (223) at the end of the reporting period
- Net sales were EUR 43.8 million (57.1)
- Comparable EBITDA was EUR 6.5 million (5.4), representing 14.7% (9.4%) of net sales
- Comparable operating profit was EUR 4.9 million (4.1)
- Items affecting comparability totaled EUR 3.0 million, of which EUR 2.0 million were items impacting EBITDA and EUR 1.0 million were items booked as impairments below EBITDA impacting operating profit. These were mainly related to the closure of a factory in China
- Operating profit was EUR 1.9 million (3.9)
- Comparable earnings per share were EUR 0.68 (0.57)
- Earnings per share were EUR 0.19 (0.56)
- Equity ratio was 60.0% (48.5) at the end of the reporting period
January-June 2025 in brief
- Order intake was EUR 27 million (56)
- Net sales were EUR 95.7 million (101.7)
- Comparable EBITDA was EUR 13.9 million (8.4), representing 14.5% (8.2%) of net sales
- Comparable operating profit was EUR 10.9 million (5.7)
- Operating profit was EUR 7.8 million (5.4)
- Comparable earnings per share were EUR 1.39 (0.79)
- Earnings per share were EUR 0.88 (0.76)
KEY FIGURES (MEUR) | Q2/ | Q2/ | Change | H1/ | H1/ | Change | 2024 |
Net sales | 43.8 | 57.1 | -23.3 | 95.7 | 101.7 | -6.0 | 204.6 |
Exported portion of net sales, % | 54.9 | 85.2 | 56.1 | 88.8 | 84.3 | ||
Comparable EBITDA | 6.5 | 5.4 | 20.0 | 13.9 | 8.4 | 65.3 | 19.8 |
Comparable EBITDA % | 14.7 | 9.4 | 14.5 | 8.2 | 9.7 | ||
EBITDA | 4.5 | 5.3 | -15.1 | 11.7 | 8.1 | 44.6 | 19.1 |
EBITDA % | 10.2 | 9.2 | 12.3 | 8.0 | 9.3 | ||
Comparable operating profit | 4.9 | 4.1 | 20.2 | 10.9 | 5.7 | 91.9 | 14.4 |
Comparable operating profit, % | 11.2 | 7.1 | 11.4 | 5.6 | 7.0 | ||
Operating profit | 1.9 | 3.9 | -51.2 | 7.8 | 5.4 | 44.0 | 13.7 |
Operating profit, % | 4.4 | 6.9 | 8.1 | 5.3 | 6.7 | ||
Net result | 1.2 | 3.4 | -65.1 | 5.4 | 4.7 | 15.8 | 12.1 |
Comparable EPS, EUR | 0.68 | 0.57 | 19.3 | 1.39 | 0.79 | 75.9 | 2.05 |
EPS, EUR | 0.19 | 0.56 | -66.1 | 0.88 | 0.76 | 15.8 | 1.96 |
EPS (diluted), EUR | 0.19 | 0.54 | -64.8 | 0.86 | 0.74 | 16.2 | 1.91 |
Adjusted avg. no. of shares, 1000 pcs | 5 995 | 6 028 | 6 009 | 6 028 | 6 027 | ||
Adjusted avg. no. of shares, diluted, 1000 pcs | 6 023 | 6 325 | 6 313 | 6 327 | 6 350 | ||
Return on investment, (ROI), % | 32.6 | 25.1 | 30.9 | ||||
Return on equity, (ROE), % | 21.8 | 23.2 | 27.5 | ||||
Interest-bearing net liabilities | -28.6 | -31.1 | -51.9 | ||||
Equity ratio, % | 60,0 | 48.5 | 55.2 | ||||
Gearing, % | -57.0 | -73.1 | -104.4 | ||||
Gross capital expenditure | 1.0 | 0.6 | 70.6 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 68.0 | 2.8 |
% of net sales | 2.3 | 1.0 | 1.8 | 1.0 | 1.4 | ||
Research and development costs | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 2.8 | 2.8 | -0.9 | 5.3 |
% of net sales | 3.2 | 2.5 | 2.9 | 2.7 | 2.6 | ||
Order book | 115 | 223 | -48.5 | 184 | |||
Order intake | 12 | 20 | -41.3 | 27 | 56 | -51.3 | 121 |
Personnel, at the end of the period | 766 | 798 | -4.0 | 783 | |||
Personnel, effective, on average | 748 | 741 | 0.9 | 754 | 745 | 1.2 | 740 |
Review from Mika Saariaho, President and CEO
We continued our strong operational execution in the second quarter of 2025, further demonstrating our enhanced capabilities to operate successfully in a challenging business environment. Raute's comparable EBITDA reached EUR 6.5 million, representing a margin of 14.7% on net sales of EUR 44 million. This is also a significant milestone, marking the first time we have exceeded on a rolling 12-month basis our long-term target of a 12% comparable EBITDA margin. All three business segments are making positive contributions to Raute's financial performance.
While net sales were below the comparison period, primarily due to typical revenue recognition fluctuations, I am particularly pleased with our ability to achieve strong profitability even with reduced volumes. We have continued to deliver projects successfully and on schedule. This strong execution, coupled with the significant efficiency improvements and supply chain optimizations we have implemented, is clearly bearing fruit.
Raute's business environment remained challenging in the reporting period, with customers deferring investment decisions amidst heightened global trade and tariff uncertainties. Consequently, our order intake was very low, and it was primarily related to the Services business, which has remained relatively resilient even in the current market environment. While commercial discussions in the Wood Processing and Analyzers businesses were reactivated towards the end of the quarter, this was not yet realized as new orders. However, we believe that demand will improve in the second half of 2025 and during 2026.
Regardless of the market environment, we are determined to proactively safeguard our margins and enhance our global competitiveness, both in the short and longer term. Accordingly, we introduced short-term measures to adjust our production capacity, as well as long-term decision to close our production unit in China during the quarter. The closure of the China production unit is a strategic step in the broader restructuring of our global manufacturing network, designed to cluster production resources more cost-effectively and increase flexibility.
During the first half of the year we have also reviewed our strategy launched in early 2023 and concluded that the overall strategy and targets for 2028 remain valid. Looking ahead, I am particularly pleased with the significant improvements in our operational and commercial capabilities. This gives me confidence in our ability to navigate through different business cycles.
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
The global business environment was very turbulent in the first half of the year due to many different reasons in various market areas. We estimate that this general turbulence has affected the demand for our customers' end products.
The prolonged recession in the construction industry, which is the main user of veneer-based end products, continued globally. However, signs of an improvement in construction activity were observed in the second quarter of the year, for example, in Europe (Eurostat, June 2025). In North America, housing construction starts increased significantly in Canada during the second quarter after a sluggish start to the year (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation). In the United States, on the other hand, housing start-ups continued to decline moderately compared to the previous year. (U.S. Census Bureau).
After a prolonged recession, a slight pick-up in end-product demand was visible, especially in Europe. Demand for birch plywood and LVL remained stable. The increase in prices caused by the low availability of logs affected the profitability of some of our customers, although this was at least partially compensated by price increases in the end products.
Uncertainty related to U.S. import tariffs paralyzed our customers' investment decisions in the first half of the year in North and South America, as well as for those manufacturers in Asia that have traditionally relied on the U.S. as an export market. In addition, the increasing geopolitical tensions in the Asia-Pacific region were also reflected in the uncertainty of our customers in the first half of the year. The ongoing war in Ukraine in Europe, combined with the uncertain customs policy of the United States, has also slowed down decision-making, although we estimate that some of our European customers are already preparing for the market to become more active.
GUIDANCE STATEMENT FOR 2025
Raute's 2025 net sales are expected to be between EUR 190-220 million and comparable EBITDA between EUR 20-27 million.
RAUTE CORPORATION
Board of Directors
BRIEFING
A results briefing for analysts, investors and the media will be organized at Eliel studio in Sanomatalo, Töölönlahdenkatu 2, Helsinki on the same day August 12, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. The half-year financial report will be presented by President and CEO Mika Saariaho and CFO Ville Halttunen. The presentation material will be available after the briefing at www.raute.com > Investors > Financial information.
The event will be held in English, and it can also be followed by a live webcast at https://raute.videosync.fi/q2-2025. After the presentation, it is possible to ask questions via chat. The recording of the event will be available on the company's website after the event.
NEXT REPORT:
Raute Corporation's Business Review January-September 2025 will be published on Thursday, October 30, 2025.
FURTHER INFORMATION:
Mr. Mika Saariaho, President and CEO, tel. +358 40 154 9393
Mr. Ville Halttunen, CFO, mobile phone +358 50 3460868
DISTRIBUTION:
Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd, Main media, www.raute.com
RAUTE IN BRIEF - Making Wood Matter
Raute is the partner to future-proof the wood industry. Our technologies cover different production processes with supporting digital and analytics solutions for engineered wood products. Additionally, we offer a full-scale service concept ranging from spare parts to regular maintenance and modernizations. Our innovative hardware and software solutions are designed to support our customers' efficient consumption of natural resources. In mill-scale projects, Raute is a global market leader both in the plywood and LVL industries. Raute's head office and main production plant are located in Lahti, Finland. The company's other production plants are located in Kajaani, Finland, the Vancouver area of Canada, and in Pullman, WA, USA. Raute's net sales in 2024 were EUR 204.6 million. The Group's headcount at the end of 2024 was 783. More information about the company can be found at www.raute.com
