Outlook for 2018
In 2018, further improvements will be made to the sawmills, such as increasing seasoning capacity, merging the two sharpening plants, and improving energy supply. All of this is in preparation for a capacity expansion that will be necessary in 2019. The harvest volume is to amount to 240 000 m3, and the production volume in the sawmills is to be increased by 3.5 %. We expect production in the veneer plant to increase by 3 %. Sales growth will be between 5 % and 10 %. With slightly higher costs, the EBITDA margin is likely to be slightly lower than the record result of 2017, but at least as high in absolute terms.
At the beginning of 2018, we carried out preparatory work to advance the project of an energy plant. However, as the new forestry law has not yet been definitively adopted, we will leave it at preparatory work for now and only invest in it once there is legal certainty. In addition, we are investigating additional concession areas that we intend to manage. The demand for logs in Gabon has risen massively because companies have settled in a specially created industrial zone for the first transformation (processing step).
Key figures for Precious Woods Gabon
| 2017 | 2016 | Change | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Economic | ||||||||
| Sales sawn and industrialized wood | in m3 | 36 700 | 34 700 | 5.8% | ||||
| Sales logs | in m3 | 55 400 | 32 100 | 72.6% | ||||
| Sales rotary veneer | in m3 | 26 000 | 27 900 | –6.8% | ||||
| Sales sliced veneer | in m2 | 57 400 | 543 600 | –89.4% | ||||
| Harvest volume | in m3 | 238 600 | 196 800 | 21.2% | ||||
| Net sales | in EUR million | 30.7 | 28.6 | 7.3% | ||||
| Operating result | in EUR million | 9.9 | 7.6 | 30.3% | ||||
| Environmental | ||||||||
| Energy consumption | in GJ | 162 000 | 153 100 | 5.8% | ||||
| CO2 emissions | in t | 14 500 | 13 800 | 5.1% | ||||
| FSC share of timber production sold | in % | 100 | 100 | – | ||||
| Social indicators | ||||||||
| Employees (yearly average) | 830 | 800 | 3.8% | |||||
| Women | in % | 9 | 9.6 | –3.1% | ||||
| Accidents at work | 77 | 91 | –15.4% | |||||
| Days lost per accident | 10.9 | 11.8 | –7.6% |