Higher cashflow and profit

2019 was a good year for Hasslacher Norica Timber. One the one hand, the company was elected “Timber Industry of the Year 2020” by Holzkurier, on the other hand, it managed to profit from the market situation. “All in all, the past fiscal year was characterized by a positive economic development in Europe and on the main sales markets. In this context, Hasslacher group’s main divisions have seen a very positive development,” one can read in the company’s annual report.

Hasslacher group used the positive situation to strengthen and expand its market position, thereby raising the group’s net income by 31.8% compared to the previous year, from € 22.8 million to € 30.1 million.

More than 13% cashflow

The company’s cashflow rose by 27.4% from € 45.3 million in 2018 to € 57.7 million last fiscal year. The cashflow ratio improved as well, from 10.5% in 2018 to 13.4% last year.

In its annual report, Hasslacher Norica Timber puts its own capital (equity capital + investment grants) at € 133.5 million which is a 21.4% increase year on year. The equity ratio is at 43.5% (previous year: 38.4%).

In 2019, log supply was sufficient for Hasslacher’s sawmills in Austria as well as for the production site in Russia. At its own production sites, the company processes already 70% of its softwood sawn timber into planed timber, cross-laminated and glue-laminated timber, solid structural timber and special construction elements as well as into pallets. Last year, around 720,000 m³ of sawn timber were produced from 1.5 million m³ of logs. 70% of this volume thus are 500,000 m³. In total, however, Hasslacher Norica Timber has an annual demand of 750,000 m³, which means that the company bought 250,000 m³ of sawn timber last year.

Cheaper sawn timber and log wood

The annual report does not hide the fact that the improvement of the overall result compared to the previous fiscal year is due to a high demand and reductions in log prices following a higher accumulation of damaged wood. The margin was raised and the sawmills’ production targets were reached. Material costs fell from € 240 million in 2018 to € 218 million last year. This item includes massive sawn timber purchases as well as regular log purchases – both were less expensive in 2019.

Over the course of the year, sawn timber prices fell “on all markets and in all product groups”. Here, the global market was helpful to Hasslacher: “Demand for the nicer qualities remained at a high level throughout the entire fiscal year. As to the lower qualities, sufficient alternative markets could be found in Asia, however, only at considerable price reductions.”