Mondi makes headway in first quarter; shares in paper maker top FTSE

Paper maker Mondi () pulled off a punchy performance in its first quarter, sending shares to the top of the FTSE 100 this morning.

Operating profit in the three months to March was €236mln the South African company said – that’s 29% above the comparable period last year.

Wood costs, paper for recycling, resin, energy and chemicals costs were all lower than last year, while currency movements also helped out. 

The rise in underlying operating profit was also due to volume growth across most of the European businesses.

Contributions from capital projects and acquisitions, and higher selling prices in Russia and South Africa, aided the performance, it said.

On its outlook, the paper and packaging firm said much depends on the macroeconomic environment, but that it remained confident of making good progress for the year.

Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets, said Mondi’s results were packed full of positives.

“Average paper selling prices holding up and comparable sales growth across most business, both sequentially and annually, is also welcome news at this stage of the year,” he said.

“While management says the ‘outlook remains macro-dependant’, its confidence in FY progress is going down well with the investment community this early in the year when other corporates are possibly more cautious.”

Shares were still trading 10% higher at 11am, priced at 1,441p.