Suominen Corporation has completed the share repurchases it announced last month. With an average price per share of €0.67, the company purchased 50,000 Suominen shares through the Helsinki stock market. The total purchase price amounted to €33,722. Suominen now holds 55,057 shares.

In other recent financial news at the company, net sales for the third quarter totaled €55.2 million, down slightly from €55.7. Meanwhile, operating profit was €-0.8 million compared to €0.5 during the year-earlier quarter. Net sales for the nine-month period totaled €164.8 million, up from €161.2 a year ago. Operating profit was €-0.3 million during the first three quarters of 2008, down from €2.2 during the same period of 2007.

Suominen attributes the results to continued strong fluctuations in raw material prices, especially in the oil-based raw materials used for flexible packaging. According to the company, the cost of increased raw material prices that were not compensated by higher sale prices during the period under review exceeded those of the previous year by €2 million. Energy and payroll costs reportedly increased by some €2 million while the company’s operational enhancement program has generated €4.5 million since the previous year.