Precious Woods Gabon
Increased margins with higher sales
The sawmills produced a total of 21 008 m3 of sawn timber, corresponding to an increase of 17.9% (previous year: 17 815 m3). The increase in volume is mainly due to the capacity increase in the new hardwood sawmill. Capacity will be further increased in the second half of the year and will lead to a higher production volume. As in the previous year, maintenance work in the sawmills was carried out as planned in May.
Net sales PWG
17.8
EUR million
Net sales in Gabon were 12.8% above the same period of the previous year, reaching EUR 17.8 million (previous year: EUR 15.8 million). Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounted to EUR 3.7 million (previous year: EUR 1.0 million). The EBITDA margin was 20.8% (previous year: 6.2%).
Despite the increase, sales were below expectations, given that infrastructural impairments had a negative impact on exports. The result would have been even better if the high inventory levels could have been delivered and the margins on the inventory realized. The high loss in the previous year from veneer production was stopped as a result of the merger with our French partner and no longer affected PWG’s result. Although a loss from this merger is still visible at group level, the loss will be reduced as soon as all capacity expansions have been completed.