SCA presented its Year-end Report 2009 today. SCA's net sales went up slightly, totalling 110,857 million Kronor (110,449). Profit before tax, excluding restructuring costs, was 8,004 million Kronor (6,237), and profit for the year, excluding restructuring costs, was 5,906 million Kronor (5,598). Restructuring costs in business area Packaging amounted to 1,458 million Kronor (0)."All parts of the Group were involved in improving cash flow in 2009, which was further strengthened during the fourth quarter. Working capital continued to decrease through ongoing reductions of inventories. This, together with a higher operating surplus and a lower level of current capital expenditures, helped strengthen cash flow from current operations, which for the full year amounted to SEK 11,490m, compared with SEK 3,810m a year ago," comments Jan Johansson, CEO of SCA."To strengthen organic growth, expansion investments totalling 3,031 million Kronor have been made in Russia and Mexico, among other areas," Johansson says. SCA's net debt has decreased to 40,430 million Kronor (47,002).Demand for hygiene products remained stable during the fourth quarter, and operating profit strengthened by 56 percent for Tissue and by 27 percent for Personal Care. Despite a weak market for publication papers, operating profit for business area Forest Products improved by 13 percent compared with a year ago and by 28 percent for the fourth quarter."As per the end of December, the action program in busines areaPackaging had delivered savings of slightly more than SEK 300m, and all 11 of the announced plant closures have been carried out. The decline in demand has ceased, and a recovery of liner prices has begun. The operating result for Packaging was positive in the seasonally weak fourth quarter," Jan Johansson says.According to Jan Johansson, the outlook for 2010 is cautiously optimistic. Demand for packaging is expected to strengthen, and in Europe there are indications of market growth of 2%-3%. However, several factors point to a relatively weak start to 2010. On the forest products side, we have noted a weak market with lower prices for publication papers, but a cautious recovery in the construction sector, where the market balance for solid-wood products has now improved. The market outlook for SCA's hygiene categories appears stable for the most part, with continued favourable growth potential in Russia, Latin America and Southeast Asia, among other markets.