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Sales of the Pulp and Paper Business Area developed very favorably in 2003. As a result of good Order Intake during 2002 and 2003, and due to a recovery of the service business in the course of 2003 (especially in North America),
Sales increased by 20.5% to 810.3 MEUR (2002: 672.2 MEUR). Both Pulp Mill Technologies (from 382.8 MEUR in 2002 to 412.2 MEUR in 2003) as well as Paper Mill Technologies (from 289.4 MEUR in 2002 to 398.1 MEUR in 2003) were able to improve their Sales
substantially in comparison to 2002. Due to the increase in Sales and successful implementation of cost saving measures, EBITDA of the Business Area increased by 19.4% over the previous
year, to 63.9 MEUR (2002: 53.5 MEUR). However, profitability expressed as EBITDA margin was reduced slightly to 7.9% (2002: 8.0%). The main reason for this was the processing of some larger systems orders which typically have lower margins.
Order Intake reached 857.3 MEUR in 2003, a slight increase of 1.7% compared to the previous year (2002: 843.3 MEUR). The upswing is mainly due to the receipt of some large
reference orders, e.g. the order from Veracel Celulose S.A., Brazil, for a complete fiberline (from the digester to the finished pulp bales, including white liquor plant) for a greenfield mill. Large orders were also booked for chemical recovery systems. Pulp
Mill Technologies’ Order Intake reached 390.3 MEUR in 2003, a decrease of 22.5% compared to the previous year (2002: 503.7 MEUR). This decline is mainly due to the exceptionally high Order Intake for recovery boilers in the previous year. Order
Intake for Paper Mill Technologies developed very satisfactorily. Orders totaled 467.0 MEUR in 2003, an increase of 37.5% compared to last year (2002: 339.6 MEUR). Every Division of Paper Mill Technologies was able to increase its Order Intake compared
to last year. It is especially worth mentioning that the Mechanical Pulping Systems Division - which includes plants for pulp dewatering and drying - more than doubled its Order Intake compared to 2002.
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