In the July – September 2017 quarter, Ahlstrom- Munksjö’s net sales of €541.6 million ($637 million), showed a gain of 3.5%. Comparable net sales increased by 5.7% at constant currency rates.

Meanwhile, January-September 2017 net sales were $1.69 billion ($1.99 billion), showing a gain of 4%. Comparable net sales increased by 4% at constant currency rates.

CEO Jan Åström comments: “We achieved strong organic growth of over 5% in the quarter and were able to maintain our operational result despite the accelerated cost inflation in some of our key raw materials. Our performance was once again led by excellent results in the Filtration & Performance, and Industrial Solutions business areas. We will continue to work on our pricing to mitigate the cost pressure and address the challenges in the coated one-sided papers business.  

“The integration work following the merger is gaining momentum as we achieved an annual run rate of about €17 million in synergy benefits by the end of the quarter. We are now fully comfortable that we can exceed the original target of €35 million and estimate that annual synergy benefits of above €40 million can be reached by the second quarter of 2019.”