Excellent result for Metsähallitus

Excellent result for Metsähallitus

Press Release, 4 March 2011

Last year Metsähallitus achieved excellent results. The Group’s turnover from business operations grew to EUR 367 million, a profit of EUR 102.3 million. Turnover increased by a quarter. This result was based primarily on forestry operations, which bring in most of the turnover and which reached a record level in 2010. The business portfolio comprising other areas of activity also saw a marked improvement in their results over the previous year.

Our performance has been on a good level for several years now. “During the last four years we have three times achieved a result of more than EUR 100 million and our dividend (contribution to state revenue) was almost the same. Even in the poorest year, 2009, the result was normal compared with previous years,” says Director General Jyrki Kangas.

In Metsähallitus the contribution to state revenue is only one aspect of business operations; there is also a special focus on the other benefits arising from the group’s activities, such as biodiversity, recreational uses, reindeer husbandry, the Sámi culture and employment impacts. Last year the imputed value of these public and social benefits was EUR 53 million, reducing the result by that amount.

According to Kangas these other benefits generated by commercially managed forests complement the corresponding impacts of conservation areas in an ideal way.

Last year Metsähallitus supplied the forest industry with wood raw material amounting to 6.1 million cubic metres.

“Our good results reflect the long-term consistency of our operations,” says Kangas. “We kept our harvesting and transport equipment running and invested in the upkeep of the forest road network even when the industry was going through a serious recession, and this was reflected in the continuity of forestry operations and a strong cash flow. Metsähallitus had wood to sell, our contractors and their employees were ready to work and the infrastructure was in good shape as soon as the economic conditions improved.”

The Natural Heritage Services unit, which is responsible for public administration duties, continued to show good productivity and met the profit targets set.

The popularity of the national parks has remained stable, with 1,958,500 visits in 2010. All in all, the national parks brought in EUR 108.9 million to local economies and employed external contractors and employees to an amount equal to 1,403 person work years. “In the best case, one euro invested in the parks’ services generated 20–30 euros for the local economy,” Kangas points out.

The importance of the national parks for nature tourism in Finland and local employment was one of the main reasons why Parliament decided in December to revoke a proposal for a EUR 3.5 million cut that would have affected the budget of the Nature Heritage Services.

Last year Metsähallitus launched two important investment and nature projects. As part of the National Forest Programme, Metsähallitus is to complete an inventory of the cultural heritage sites in state-owned forests by the year 2015. The cultural heritage of conservation areas has already been inventoried, and now the work has been extended to include state-owned commercially managed forests. Last year Finland’s biggest LIFE Fund nature project was launched, half of the EUR 6.7 million budget being funded by the EU. The aim of the Boreal Peatland LIFE project is to restore more than 4000 hectares of different types of peatland to their natural state in 52 conservation areas.

Metsähallitus is a state enterprise producing services relating to natural resources. In addition to business activities it also fulfils many public administration duties. Metsähallitus has taken responsibility for the sustainable and environmentally aware use and protection of natural resources for more than 150 years. Metsähallitus’ operations are based on productive overall management of state-owned land, and its clients range from private citizens to major corporations

For further information, please contact:
Jyrki Kangas, Director General +358 (0)205 644201
Juha Mäkinen, Director of Communications +358 (0)40 570 9307