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News in Brief NB News in Brief
NEWS IN BRIEF
A roundup of news from across the global tissue industry. To get the very latest news go to www.tissueworldmagazine.com
GLOBAL Essity reports 4.5% sales growth for 2021; announces further price hikes Essity has announced sales growth of 4.5% year-on-year with organic sales up 3.3%. In the period 1 January – 31 December 2021, net sales also increased 0.1% to SEK121,867m. Market shares increased for 70% of branded sales in the retail trade; E-commerce sales increased organically by 15.9% to approximately 14% of net sales, corresponding to SEK17bn. Operating profit before EBITA decreased 20% to SEK14,051m, while profit for the year was SEK9,810m. Magnus Groth, President and Chief Executive (pictured), said: “Primarily within
Professional Hygiene, sales were negatively impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and the related lockdowns and restrictions. “At the same time, our hygiene and health solutions are more important than ever, and we can see a rapid increase in sales when societies re-open and restrictions are lifted.” He added that due to “significant cost inflation,” adjusted EBITA fell 22% to SEK13,680m: “Higher costs for raw materials, energy and distribution reduced the margin by 4.8%. “Higher volumes, higher selling prices, a
better mix and efficiency improvements had a positive impact on earnings.” During the year, emerging markets accounted for 38% of net sales and organic sales growth was 8.8%. Groth also announced that further price hikes will be implemented in 2022 to offset strong inflation costs: “We have taken strong actions to address the significant challenges in our operating environment. We implemented price increases in all business areas and further price increases will be implemented in 2022 to offset the strong cost inflation.” Tissue World Magazine | January/February 2022
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