Metso Paper reaches agreement on measures to improve competitiveness in Finland

Published Dec 5, 2007 12.00.00 +2 GMT

Metso Paper’s Paper and Board business line has brought to a conclusion the personnel negotiations initiated at its seven Finnish locations on October 11, 2007. As a result of the negotiations, aimed at enhancing Metso Paper’s competitiveness, a personnel reduction of 210 persons in total will be carried out in Anjalankoski, Hollola, Jyväskylä, Järvenpää, Karhula, Turku and Valkeakoski. The Karhula unit will be closed, and its responsibilities transferred to other units of the Paper and Board business line.

The measures will begin to take place in the first half of 2008 and their completion will take some 6-18 months, depending on location and individual cases. The employment terminations consist of pension arrangements, discontinuation of temporary employment relationships and redundancies. Some of the personnel concerned can be offered jobs in other Metso units.

The non-recurring expenses related to the measures are not estimated to be material to Metso Paper. The annual savings are estimated to exceed the non-recurring expenses.

The decisions made support the Paper and Board business line's restructuring process, in which certain units and functions were merged organizationally. With these measures the business line eliminates overlapping operations and will be able to develop and strengthen sales and services closer to customers.

Metso Paper employs approximately 12,000 people, of which some 4,000 work in the Finnish units of the Paper and Board business line.

Metso is a global engineering and technology corporation with 2006 net sales of approximately EUR 5 billion. Its more than 26,000 employees in more than 50 countries serve customers in the pulp and paper industry, rock and minerals processing, the energy industry and selected other industries. www.metso.com

For additional information: Hannu Mälkiä President, Paper and Board business line, Metso Paper Tel. +358 400 460 587

Jaakko Puurula Vice President, Human Resources, Metso Paper Tel. +358 400 582 904