Swedish forest products company Holmen AB on Thursday reported a lower first-half profit and a significant increase in net debt after making payments to shareholders.
Profit after tax for the six months to June 30 fell to 1.35 billion Swedish kronor from 1.49 billion kronor a year earlier, the company said.
Net sales for the period were largely flat at 11.55 billion kronor.
The company's net financial debt rose to 5.35 billion kronor at the end of the period, up from 3.26 billion kronor a year ago.
Holmen said it paid a dividend of 1.89 billion kronor in the second quarter and bought back 862 million kronor of its own shares in the first half of the year.
Operating profit for the first half declined to 1.79 billion kronor from 1.93 billion kronor.
According to the company, the drop was due to lower earnings from its renewable energy business, which was hit by very low electricity prices in northern Sweden.
A maintenance shutdown at its paperboard mill in Workington also weighed on second-quarter results, Holmen said.
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