Finland Times

The company's profit in the third quarter was 313 million euros this year, up by 31 percent compared with the same period last year.

UPM stock showed a six percent increase at the Helsinki stock market at 11 a.m. Tuesday.

The company's operating cash flow was recorded at 506 million euros, while the figure was 363 million euros a year ago. The strong cash flow enables both focused growth investments and attractive dividends to shareholders, the company said.

CEO Pesonen singled out the performance of paper production in North America and Europe. He said the performance shows that value can also be created in a challenging business environment.

However, UPM expected structural decline in demand of graphic papers in Europe to continue. Therefore UPM was conducting a review of its European production units and making "potential restructuring plans" in the near future.

Even though UPM is a Finnish company and carries the legacy of several Finnish producers after latest mergers in 1996, its Finnish production assets face problems. The transportation chain from Finland to the main markets in the world is long and Finnish units must prove their viability otherwise.

Early October, UPM Paper Asia was renamed UPM Speciality Papers. The name highlights the strategic focus on speciality papers.