Finnish nonwoven fabric manufacturer Suominen reported a 11.3 per cent increase in net sales to €493.3 million in financial year 2022 (FY22), compared to FY21. The growth in net sales was driven by higher sales prices and tailwind from currencies. The company’s net sales for the Americas business area were €288 million in FY22, corresponding to 58 per cent of total net sales.

Suominen’s net sales in the European business area were €205.5 million, corresponding to 42 per cent of total net sales in FY22, the company said in a press release.

In FY22, Suominen's comparable EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) decreased by 67.4 per cent to €15.3 million due to the volume loss and higher raw material and energy costs. The company's comparable operating profit was negative €4.2 million, while the operating profit was negative €9 million.

Cash flow from operations was €14 million in FY22, compared to €11.1 million in FY21. Furthermore, cash flow from operations per share in FY22 was €0.24, compared to €0.19 in FY21.

The company's net financial expenses were minus €2.9 million, while the net effect of changes in foreign exchange rates in financial items were €2.8 million.

In FY23, Suominen expects its comparable EBITDA to be above the FY22 EBITDA of €15.3 million.

Suominen's financial targets for the period 2020-2025 include net sales growth above relevant market growth and an EBITDA margin above 12 per cent by 2025.

The company also aims to reduce its energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions respectively by 20 per cent per ton of product by 2025, compared to the base year of 2019.

“2022 was a difficult year for Suominen. The unprecedented raw material inflation, which already had a significant impact on us in 2021, continued and energy costs increased in 2022 after Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine in February. Particularly Suominen’s US business suffered from the high inventory levels in the whole supply chain, where imbalance started to normalise only during the second half of the year. We made steady progress in the implementation of our strategy,” said Petri Helsky, president and CEO of Suominen.