Stora Enso board approves spin-off plan for Swedish forest assets

Oct 30 (Reuters) - Stora Enso STERV.HE said on Friday its board has approved the plan to spin off its Swedish forest assets into a separately listed company, Bergslagets Skogar, which it expects to complete in March 2027, subject to shareholder approval.

The move advances the Finnish forestry group's strategy to focus on packaging and renewable materials, while creating what it says would be Europe's largest listed pure-play forest company.

• Bergslagets Skogar management will host a Capital Markets Day on Tuesday to present its strategy and dividend policy

• Stora Enso will hold an extraordinary general meeting on December 15 for the investor vote

• In a separate statement, it said Q3 adjusted operating profit rose to €161 million ($180 million), beating a Vara consensus of €155.8 million

• Stora Enso lowered its 2026 capital expenditure estimate to around €500 million, from less than €550 million previously

• "We have, during the last years, invested heavily in our company into state-of-the-art technology, into additional capacity, especially in renewable packaging materials. And now it's time to harvest," CEO Hans Sohlström told Reuters

• He also said Stora Enso was not seeing the customer destocking pressures flagged by peer UPM UPM.HE, saying volume growth was driven by the company's investments and commercial actions

($1 = 0.8957 euros)