The Mayr-Melnhof Group closed the third quarter of 2012 with a clear profit improvement compared to the previous quarters. In the reporting period from January to September 2012, we thus managed to maintain the previous year's high-level earnings despite non-recurring expenses in connection with the closure of a folding carton plant in Great Britain and increasingly challenging market conditions. Due to the economic downturn, the demand in our European main markets remained volatile and restrained. However, our focus on packaging for convenience goods and the wide geographical distribution of sales permitted a good capacity utilization in the first three quarters.
With the acquisition of Plegacol, another major Columbian folding carton manufacturer, Mayr-Melnhof Packaging has become the market leader in folding carton packaging in Columbia. Moreover, additional growth momentum is being provided particularly by the new plants in Poland and Turkey as well as by selected cartonboard export markets.
