Turnover fell by 4.6% to 3.1bn (EUR4.9bn), which was not helped by divestment of its interest in MD Papier or by lower selling prices for paper. Pre-tax profits were down 4.9% to 171m.

President and chief executive Jouko Jaakkola could foresee no change in demand in the main market areas, and said the group would take sizeable production cutbacks at its paper mills over the next few months.

Subsidiary Map Merchant Group also failed to escape the downturn its operating losses were up 63% to 3.7m, while sales fell 4% to 237m.