Esselte has announced its operating results for quarter three and the nine months ending 30 September 2001 which show an improvement in gross margin and cost reduction. The UK business continues to be in a loss making situation.
The company says third quarter sales tend to be weaker due to seasonality reasons, however, given the adverse market conditions, they held up slightly better than expected with an increase of 0.7% to SEK 2,663 million with a gross margin of 27.2%. Dymo was the best performing product categoy for the period. Operating income was up 1.8% to SEK 57 million, the result of earlier initiated cost reduction programmes.
For the nine months to the end of September, sales were down 1.6%, due to the continued weakness in the US economy and lower demand in many European markets. Gross margin for the period increased to 28.4% due to more balanced prices, reduced product costs and improved product mix. Operating income, excluding items affecting comparability, increased by 8% to SEK 282 million.
The UK subsidiary is still in a loss-making position, although the company says the result has improved substantially from last year.
25-Oct-2001
