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Metso Corporation Interim Review on October 28, 2008

Company News Tuesday, October 28, 2008: Metso

A news conference will be held today on October 28, 2008 at 1:30 p.m. in Finnish and at 3:00 p.m. in English at Metso's Corporate Office, Fabianinkatu 9 A, Helsinki, Finland. The English-language news conference can be followed on the Internet at www.metso.com. Summary of Metso Corporation’s Company release on October 28, 2008 at 12:00 p.m. local time

Highlights of the third quarter

• New orders worth EUR 2,246 million were received in July-September (EUR 1,440 million in Q3/07). At the end of September 2008, the order backlog was 21 percent higher than at the end of December 2007, standing at EUR 5,244 million (EUR 4,341 million at December 31, 2007).
• Net sales grew 5 percent on the comparison period and totaled EUR 1,528 million (EUR 1,452 million in Q3/07).
• Earnings before interest, tax and amortization (EBITA) were EUR 180.7 million, i.e. 11.8 percent of net sales (EUR 157.3 million and 10.8% in Q3/07).
• Operating profit (EBIT) was EUR 172.3 million, i.e. 11.3 percent of net sales (EUR 143.4 million and 9.9% in Q3/07).
• Earnings per share were EUR 0.69 (EUR 0.66 in Q3/07).
• Free cash flow was EUR 91 million (EUR 144 million in Q3/07).
• Return on capital employed (ROCE) before taxes was 23.3 percent (24.7% in Q3/07).

”In the third quarter, we made good progress towards our guided 2008 performance. Actually, the operating profit for the quarter - EUR 172 million or 11.3 percent - was the best ever third-quarter in Metso’s history,“ says Jorma Eloranta, President and CEO of Metso Corporation. “Steadily improving financial performance is a strong evidence that we are developing Metso into the right direction, and we believe that Metso is today more balanced, responsive and flexible when it comes to weathering storms in the global economy.“

"In the current global economic environment, we are putting more emphasis on profitability and cash flows than growth. This means, that acquisition and investment plans are now reviewed very carefully. We are convinced that the positive cash flow impact from the ongoing programs to manage net working capital more efficiently continue to pay off in the coming months. We are also implementing tight cost control measures throughout Metso. What comes to capacity adjustments, we are prepared to move quickly when needed. At the same time, we are continuing to pursue growth especially in the emerging markets and in our services business."