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CEO of Rottneros explains firms' survival in a down market. Full article published: 12/02/2002     LARS BLECKO is the President and CEO of Rottneros AB


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TWST: Would you care to bring us up to date about any significant issues Rottneros (RROS.ST) has had to deal with since our last conversation?

Mr. Blecko: The most significant thing is that we’ve been through one of the worst down periods in thepulp industry in many, many years. The most significant achievement is that we’ve been through it without any losses. Traditionally, we have been losing money at this time of the business cycle because of such a volatile business. So the major achievement is, of course, that’s going through cost, having the right customers and continuing on the nischprogram, which we launched in 2000. There are no acquisitions or anything like that we can talk about.

TWST: What is the current condition of the pulp market given the current world economy?

Mr. Blecko: There was a sign of recovery during the summer of 2002, but now we lost that in the last two or three months. It’s pretty negative. Prices are depressed because advertisements are down, paper consumption, in general, is down, magazines are thinner, newspapers are thinner. It’s the lowest prices in U.S. dollars in almost ten years.

TWST: Could you briefly touch base on Rottnero’s current financial status? Are there any balance sheet highlights from your recent quarter?

Mr. Blecko: There are three highlights from the balance sheet. One, we have no debt. We are totally debt-free still. Two, we still have a cash position of $300 million sek -- about US$35 million in cash. We have a loan facility for another 700 million sek, a syndicated loan facility that we can draw whenever we like. So we have a very good solid financial situation even if the times are bad now. The third thing is that our assets are extremely low valued, which gives us a lot of depreciation and that makes us more competitive. The reason for that is that they (the mills) are pretty old. But they are still very functional and are bought in a way that they are low in value.


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This interview is a small excerpt from a comprehensive interview published in The Wall Street Transcript on 12/02/02. For more information call (212) 952 7400. The Wall Street Transcript does not endorse any of the comments made by interviewees, and does not make stock recommendations.

Copyright 2002, Wall Street Transcript Corp.

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