The shareholder of JSC “Latvijas valsts meži” (LVM) has approved the company’s operating report for 2025. The company closed 2025 with an audited net profit of 206.7 million euros, while revenue reached 618.5 million euros, most of it revenue from the sale of wood products. 186.1 million euros of the profit is to be paid out in dividends, and in addition 46.5 million euros will be paid as corporate income tax on the dividends.
Increasing the welfare of Latvia’s residents, LVM will have paid a total of 262 million euros into state and local government budgets for the 2025 reporting year, the largest contribution to the state in the company’s entire history. Besides the dividends and the corporate income tax on them, the company’s operations in 2025 also paid 16.7 million euros in labour taxes as compulsory state social insurance contributions, almost 8.5 million euros in personal income tax, and 4 million euros in property and natural resources taxes into the state budget.
The influence of the global timber market
LVM’s customers, who buy roundwood for further processing, sell their finished products mostly outside Latvia, so demand for roundwood, and therefore its price in Latvia, depends on the situation in the international markets for finished wood products.
During 2025 actual timber prices were 8.9% higher than originally planned. That allowed LVM to exceed its previously planned profit figures, reaching a net profit of 206.7 million EUR while providing the state with its largest dividend payment to date, 90% of the profit for the reporting year.
The prolonged rains of 2025, which created what amounted to an emergency in agriculture, significantly affected LVM’s production processes: the company had to replan its economic activity, which also changed the cost structure. The efficient resource management LVM carried out, prompt and coordinated action, and a diverse revenue structure allowed the company to maintain stable operations in difficult conditions.
An IT solution built by LVM raises work efficiency
To raise the company’s efficiency, in 2025 LVM carried out a significant timber supply chain optimisation project. Each year LVM delivers wood products to around 200 customers across Latvia. To reduce transport distances for wood products as far as possible, LVM developed an IT system module for the purpose, the use of which in 2025 reduced timber transport distances by 8%, saving 4.8 million euros and cutting CO₂ emissions in timber transport by an average of 10%.
Timber secured for Latvian companies
The company earned most of its income last year from the sale of roundwood. LVM is one of the most significant timber suppliers in Latvia, providing raw material to sawmills, plywood, board and pellet factories, energy plants and other producers across the country.
In 2025 revenue from roundwood sales came to 557.5 million euros, 18.7 million euros more than in 2024.
Providing an environmentally friendly alternative to fossil energy resources, in 2025 LVM sold 647.4 thousand MWh of energy wood chips. Revenue from wood chip sales last year reached 12.9 million euros, 1.4 million euros or 10% less than the year before.
Seeds and seedlings for the forest of the future
LVM manages some of the most modern tree nurseries in Europe, where genetically high-value, quality forest tree seedlings are grown from specially selected seed. Revenue from the sale of forest tree seeds and seedlings to external buyers reached 8.1 million euros in 2025. During the reporting period 55.7 million forest tree seedlings were sold in total, of which 45.9 million were planted in Latvia’s state and private forests, while 9.8 million were exported. Last year LVM nurseries grew and sold most spruce seedlings (26.22 million) and pine seedlings (22.93 million), with smaller volumes of birch, black alder and other species.
A mineral materials resource for state and regional construction sites
Managing more than 100 mineral extraction sites sustainably, LVM provides access to high-value, quality mineral materials and their mixtures throughout Latvia. In 2025 a total of 1,345 thousand m³ of mineral materials and mixtures were sold, 42.7 thousand m³ or 3% more than the year before, maintaining a stable flow of supplies for regional infrastructure projects. The mineral materials were used both in building LVM forest roads and on state, local government and private construction sites. Revenue from the sale of mineral materials and mixtures to external customers came to 4 million euros in 2025, 0.03 million euros more than in 2024.
30 million trees planted
Ensuring the sustainable regeneration of the forest resource and increasing the value of forest capital, forest regeneration was carried out over 19.7 thousand ha in 2025, of which 14.1 thousand ha was regenerated by planting and sowing. The areas were regenerated with selected top-quality seedlings grown in LVM nurseries, which ensure faster timber growth and therefore faster carbon sequestration. In total 30 million selected forest tree seedlings of various species were planted in LVM forests last year. Young stands, meanwhile, were tended over 36.6 thousand ha, promoting the quality development of stands in the coming growth cycles.
The number of LVM GEO users has grown
LVM develops and continuously expands an extensive platform of products and services, LVM GEO, used for their business needs by more than 45 customers from various sectors, not only in Latvia but abroad as well. Last year the number of active LVM GEO users grew to 140 thousand, making the application LVM developed the most popular map application in Latvia.
In 2025 revenue from external business system development and services reached 1.2 million euros.
Forest infrastructure developed and maintained
18.6 million euros were invested in developing forest infrastructure in 2025: forest roads and bridges significant both for economic activity and for the public were built, and forest drainage systems were restored. During the reporting year forest road construction was completed over 107 km, while work continued on sections totalling 9 km. Last year forest road construction projects with a total planned length of 175 km were approved.
LVM manages a road network more than 12,000 km long, and its day-to-day maintenance work in 2025 covered 30,227 km across the seasons, ensuring road quality, durability and traffic safety. Repairs were also carried out and drainage improved, strengthening the load-bearing capacity of road structures.
Design work for the construction of forest drainage systems was carried out over 15 thousand ha, construction was completed over 12.9 thousand ha and continued over a further 6 thousand ha.
Preserving the value of natural capital
Preserving the diversity of nature has always been an essential part of LVM forest management. Of the land in the company’s possession (forests, bogs, meadows, waters), LVM manages 27% with nature conservation as the aim. To ensure natural values are preserved and to reduce the impact of forest management on the environment, LVM experts each year, before planning economic activity, survey the sites of protected species, habitats of European Union (EU) importance and the nesting places of protected birds.
In 2025, 379 new sites of specially protected species were registered on LVM land, management work on habitats of EU importance and on species habitats was carried out over 479 ha, and 507 new large nests were found, of which 112 were used for nesting by specially protected bird species.
In the forests LVM manages, the annual increment of the timber stock exceeds the volume of timber sold. Following the principles of sustainable forestry, two new trees are planted in place of every tree felled after harvesting, thus ensuring an uninterrupted cycle of forest regeneration. The growing volume of the timber stock promotes an increase in stand productivity, raises the value of forest capital and fosters carbon sequestration.