Stora Enso to cut 1,150 jobs in restructuring

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Finnish forestry firm Stora Enso plans to close several European units and lay off workers in a bid to boost its profitability and competitiveness, the company said in a statement on Thursday.

Together with previously initiated negotiations at its packaging materials division, the restructuring will reduce the workforce by about 1,150 employees, Stora Enso said.

"These measures are of course very difficult and would not be proposed unless it was absolutely necessary for our long-term competitiveness," Chief Executive Annica Bresky said.

The steps would allow the company to grow and be better equipped to support growing demand for its renewable products, she added.

The restructuring will reduce annual sales by about 380 million euros ($410.67 million), based on figures from last year, while its operational profit (EBIT) is expected to increase by about 110 million euros per year, it added.

The group will book a non-cash impairment of about 130 million euros related to the plans, it said.

Stora Enso plans to permanently close its pulp production unit in Sunila in Finland, a containerboard site in the Netherlands, a containerboard line in Poland and a sawmill in Estonia, it said.

The Finnish wood market has been hit by greater competition for pulp wood and the halt of wood imports from Russia, which has led to "significantly higher wood costs", the company added.

($1=0.9253 euros)

(Reporting by Louise Breusch Rasmussen; Editing by Terje Solsvik and Clarence Fernandez)