LapWall closes the Raahe plant as expected

Translation: Original comment published in Finnish on 9/19/2023 at 7:18 am EEST.

LapWall announced yesterday that the change negotiations initiated by the company in July will lead to the closure of the Raahe unit and the dismissal of all employees. Production will cease in the Raahe unit in early Q4. The unit will close by the end of November.

LapWall will move the production of its Kastelli-talot customer from Raahe to its Pyhäntä unit. Other production has already been moved there. The machinery and equipment in the Raahe unit will be utilized in LapWall's other units in Pyhäntä, Pälkäne and Veteli.

The outcome of the negotiations was not a surprise and does not affect our estimates

In our opinion, the closure of the factory was a very expected outcome, as LapWall has a good production capacity for wall panels at the Pyhäntä factory in relation to the current market situation, and thus concentrating production in a larger and more efficient unit in Pyhäntä makes sense. We have commented on the plan to close the Raahe factory earlier here. We have already taken into account the closure of the Raahe plant in our estimates and the number of employees moving to other LapWall units was also in line with our expectations. Thus, the closure of the Raahe plant will not put pressure on our estimates or view of the company.