UPDATE 1-Finnish forestry firm UPM tops Q1 expectations as destocking ends

(Adds CEO quote in paragraph 2, detailed results in paragraph 3, background in 4)

April 25 (Reuters) – Finnish forestry group UPM-Kymmene posted first-quarter core profit ahead of market expectations on Thursday, saying demand had improved after clients finished trimming their inventories.

“The destocking that characterised last year was over for all our businesses,” CEO Massimo Reynaudo said in an earnings statement.

UPM posted a 6% drop in comparable earnings before interest and tax to 333 million euros ($357 million) in the first quarter, beating analysts’ estimate of 277 million euros in a consensus cited by Inderes.

Soaring production costs and low demand from destocking customers hit the Nordic forestry industry last year. Companies in the sector had also flagged a slow start to 2024 due to market uncertainty amid geopolitical tensions. ($1 = 0.9332 euros) (Reporting by Boleslaw Lasocki in Gdansk; Editing by Milla Nissi)

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