Production problems negatively impact BillerudKorsnäs results for the fourth quarter of 2015

BillerudKorsnäs’ fourth quarter results are negatively impacted by production
problems and increased maintenance costs. The impact of the problems amounts to
approximately SEK 165 million so far.
The company has made extensive rebuilds of KM5 in Frövi during the periodical
maintenance shutdown in the fourth quarter. The rebuilds aim at increasing
production capacity to support business area Consumer Board’s volume growth.
During start-up of the machine after the rebuild there were extensive
unpredictable technical disturbances which resulted in uneven production volume
and major production losses. PM6 in Gruvön have had minor technical problems
during the quarter with negative impact on the results. The production unit in
Gävle has incurred some additional costs in the fourth quarter following the
annual maintenance shutdown in the end of the third quarter. In total,
additional costs of approximately SEK 165 million have impacted the fourth
quarter compared to normal production rates. The production in Gävle and Gruvön
is now going according to plan and no subsequent problems are expected.
Production at KM5 in Frövi has improved in the beginning of December and is
expected to stabilise during the remaining part of the year.

“We usually do not comment minor production problems but in this case the
problems are of such magnitude that they have a major impact on the results for
the quarter. The situation is of course unsatisfactory, but we make investments
to meet growth in the market and start-up problems can occur in connection with
larger rebuilds. We see no changes in the underlying driving forces in our
markets. We still have a positive view on the long-term market situation and our
strategic plans for sustainable and profitable growth remains as communicated
during the capital markets day. We will however for a period of time focus on
stabilising production primarily at KM5 in Frövi to ensure volume growth going
forward. We maintain our previous market outlook and the only segment where we
temporarily expect some decrease in demand and pricing is within the sack paper
segment.  Overall we see normal seasonal variations in the fourth quarter and
likely the temporary “December effect” stemming from the long holidays at the
end of the year” says Per Lindberg, President and CEO.

BillerudKorsnäs will publish its year-end report for 2015 at 07:00 CET on 10
February 2016.

For further information, please contact:

Susanne Lithander, CFO, +46 (0)8 553 335 00

Per Lindberg, President and CEO, +46 (0)8 553 335 00

The information is such that BillerudKorsnäs Aktiebolag (publ) is obligated to
publish under the Swedish Securities Market Act. Submitted for publication at
12.00 CET on 4 December 2015.
BillerudKorsnäs provides packaging materials and solutions that challenge
conventional packaging for a sustainable future. We are a world-leading provider
of primary fibre based packaging materials and have customers in over 100
countries. The company has 8 production sites in Sweden, Finland and the UK and
about 4 300 employees in over 13 countries. BillerudKorsnäs has an annual
turnover of about SEK 21 billion and is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm.
www.billerudkorsnas.com