The Finnish machinery supplier targets \u20ac4 million in annual savings and a simpler business structure as weak mill investment cuts revenue.<\/p>\n
Raute is considering up to 50 job reductions worldwide under a profitability programme announced on 30 October. The supplier of plywood, veneer and laminated veneer lumber production equipment expects the measures to generate approximately \u20ac4 million in annual savings.<\/p>\n
Consultations in Finland will cover around 522 employees, with up to 40 positions potentially affected. No final staffing decisions have been made. Retirements, natural departures and internal role changes are expected to contribute to the savings.<\/p>\n
Raute also proposes combining Services and Analyzers into a new Lifecycle Solutions segment from January 2027, alongside Wood Processing. The aim is to expand recurring revenue from existing customers and reduce exposure to fluctuations in new mill investment.<\/p>\n
Implementation of approved measures is expected to begin in the fourth quarter, with organisational changes phased in during early 2027. The full annual savings rate is expected by the end of 2027.<\/p>\n
The announcement accompanied a sharp decline in third-quarter revenue. Sales fell 33.6% year on year to \u20ac29 million, while comparable EBITDA more than halved to \u20ac3.2 million from \u20ac6.5 million. The comparable EBITDA margin narrowed to 11%, against 15% a year earlier.<\/p>\n
For January\u2013September, sales declined 31.5% to \u20ac95.4 million. Comparable EBITDA fell to \u20ac11.4 million from \u20ac20.4 million. Raute attributed the lower activity to subdued orders in earlier quarters, which continued to affect deliveries and revenue.<\/p>\n
Profitability benefited from progress on customer projects, cost control and the release of certain project provisions. Wood Processing experienced lower sales and earnings, while Services and Analyzers performed relatively steadily compared with the previous year.<\/p>\n
Orders provided a more positive signal. Third-quarter intake reached \u20ac53 million, compared with \u20ac38 million a year earlier. However, the order book stood at \u20ac85 million at the end of September, still below the \u20ac108 million recorded a year before.<\/p>\n
A \u20ac31 million project for Kohila Vineer in Estonia accounted for more than half of the quarter\u2019s orders. Kohila, part of Latvijas Finieris, is expanding plywood production with Raute equipment covering veneer drying and grading, scarf-jointing, pressing and other production stages.<\/p>\n
Deliveries for the Estonian project are scheduled for the second half of 2027 and the first quarter of 2028, with production lines starting progressively from autumn 2027. The order strengthens Raute\u2019s future workload, although the delivery timetable extends well beyond the current financial year.<\/p>\n
Raute narrowed its 2026 sales guidance to \u20ac125\u2013135 million from \u20ac125\u2013145 million, reducing the upper end by \u20ac10 million. Comparable EBITDA is now forecast at \u20ac13\u201316 million, compared with the previous \u20ac11\u201318 million range. Both measures remain below the \u20ac175.5 million in sales and \u20ac26.1 million in comparable EBITDA reported for 2025.<\/p>\n
The new programme follows earlier workforce adjustments. In May, Raute opened negotiations covering approximately 140 employees in Finland over possible temporary layoffs of up to 90 days during 2026. That process covered functions and parts of the Services business that had not been included in previous negotiations, as customers continued to postpone investment decisions.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Finnish machinery supplier targets \u20ac4 million in annual savings and a simpler business structure as weak mill investment cuts revenue.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":100484,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5204],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n