Finnish wood processing technology supplier Raute Corporation will begin change negotiations concerning possible temporary layoffs of up to 90 days in Finland after reporting a weaker first quarter and warning that customers continue to postpone investment decisions.<\/p>\n
The negotiations cover approximately 140 employees across Raute\u2019s Finnish operations, including company functions and the Services business unit, excluding the installation team already included in earlier negotiations.<\/p>\n
According to the company, the measures are intended to adapt operations to the current workload and weaker sales outlook while protecting profitability and competitiveness. Any layoffs would be temporary and could take place during 2026.<\/p>\n
The announcement came alongside Raute\u2019s Q1 2026 business review, which showed a sharp decline in sales and profitability compared with the exceptionally strong comparison period last year.<\/p>\n
Order intake rose slightly to EUR 17 million from EUR 15 million a year earlier, but the order book fell to EUR 81 million from EUR 146 million at the end of March.<\/p>\n
Net sales declined 35.5% year-on-year to EUR 33.5 million, reflecting weaker order intake during 2025 and lower activity levels among customers globally.<\/p>\n
Comparable EBITDA fell to EUR 4.2 million from EUR 7.4 million in the same quarter last year, while comparable operating profit dropped to EUR 3.0 million from EUR 6.0 million. Net profit reached EUR 2.2 million, down from EUR 4.2 million a year earlier.<\/p>\n
Despite the decline, Raute remained profitable and financially strong. The company\u2019s equity ratio stood at 65.2% at the end of the quarter.<\/p>\n
Mika Saariaho said the company maintained disciplined operational execution despite increasingly difficult market conditions.<\/p>\n
He noted that profitability in the Wood Processing business unit remained strong, partly due to reversals of certain project-related cost provisions, while the Services and Analyzers businesses were more affected by lower sales volumes.<\/p>\n
Raute said uncertainty surrounding trade policy, tariffs, the war in Ukraine and the conflict involving Iran continued to weaken investment sentiment during the quarter.<\/p>\n
According to the company, European construction markets had shown cautious signs of improvement before the outbreak of the Iran conflict in March, but confidence weakened again afterward. In North America, high interest rates, affordability pressure and rising costs are still limiting housing-related demand growth.<\/p>\n
The company added that some customers in Europe and North America continue preparing future modernization and efficiency investments despite the difficult market environment.<\/p>\n
Raute updated its 2026 guidance at the end of April and now expects full-year net sales between EUR 125 million and EUR 160 million, down from EUR 175.5 million in 2025. Comparable EBITDA is expected between EUR 10 million and EUR 19 million.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":98661,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4713,5204],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-companies-in-the-timber-industry","category-daily-news","topic-wood-products","topic-woodworking-machinery","area-europe","area-global"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n