One of Latvia’s leading wood industry companies, “Stiga RM”, and its associated companies have achieved a turnover of 50 million euros in the first six months of 2023, representing a 23% increase compared to the same period last year. Despite the general market situation, where prices for finished wood products have fallen by more than 20%, the company's EBITDA for the first half of the year grew by 16% compared to the same period last year, reaching 18 million euros.

The company's financial success is based on significant investments in production modernisation and a successfully implemented management reform, which allowed the company to operate more efficiently than last year, when market conditions were much more favourable.

“For several years, there was a boom in woodworking – high demand drove rapid price increases, resulting in significant revenue and profit. However, with interest rates rising sharply, this situation could not continue, and 2023 began with a significant drop in the prices of wood products. We prepared for such a turning point by purposefully investing a significant share of our profits into the company's development – introducing new product lines, purchasing technologically advanced equipment, and digitalising and automating processes. Expanding our product range and improving the quality of plywood products are the only ways to succeed in international markets. The results of this approach are also reflected in this year's financial performance,” emphasises “Stiga RM” owner Andris Ramoliņš.

“Stiga RM” exports more than 90% of all its produced output. International client demand for more expensive, high-value products contributes to turnover growth and ensures broad geographical market coverage worldwide. In the first half of the year, “Stiga RM” saw sales growth across all export markets, but particularly in North America, where high-quality birch plywood is in high demand.

“Stiga RM” actively continued the modernisation of production in 2023, allocating 20.2 million euros to investment projects over the six months. The company was able to cover the majority (17.7 million euros) from its own funds, while the remaining part was co-financed by ALTUM, OP Banka and SEB banka.

A. Ramoliņš considers the management reform completed at the start of the year to be another success factor: “We began this year with significant measures to strengthen corporate governance – structural changes and the merger of five group companies under a single “Stiga RM” brand. A unified family brand and a cohesive team of professionals with clearly defined areas of responsibility and goals accelerated the decision-making process and the implementation of planned projects, fostering rapid company development.”

The company's rapid development also created new jobs – since last summer, 71 new colleagues have joined the “Stiga RM” group of companies. At present, “Stiga RM” employs more than 500 people in total.

The company plans to continue focusing on the production of complex, high-value-added products, the introduction of new technologies, and the modernisation of production processes, which in the long term has proven to be a successful development strategy.