Mondi Group: Trading Statement

As part of the dual listed company structure, Mondi Limited and Mondi plc (together 'Mondi Group') notify both the JSE Limited and the London Stock Exchange of matters required to be disclosed under the JSE Listings Requirements and/or the Disclosure and Transparency and Listing Rules of the United Kingdom Listing Authority.

In terms of paragraph 3.4(b) of the Listings Requirements of the JSE Limited, companies are required to publish a trading statement as soon as they become reasonably certain that the financial results for the period to be reported on next will differ by at least 20% from those of the previous corresponding period.

Mondi is currently finalising its results for the year ended 31 December 2009, which will be released on 23 February 2010. It can now be confirmed that Group underlying operating profit for the second half of 2009 is expected to be above that of the first half but below that of the comparable period in 2008.

Furthermore, results for the year ended 31 December 2009 have been impacted by a net special items charge for the period of circa €128 million (2008: €383 million), primarily relating to the early actions taken to restructure the Group in response to prevailing market conditions. €78 million of this charge was taken in the first half with a further circa €50 million taken in the second half mainly related to a goodwill impairment in Europapier, asset impairment costs in Austria and Germany and restructuring costs associated with the mothballing of the paper machine at the Merebank mill in South Africa.

Accordingly, Mondi advises that it expects full year earnings per share (‘EPS’) to be within the ranges shown below:

Basic underlying earnings per share (euro cents per share) 16 to 20 (2008 33.9)

Basic headline earnings per share (euro cents per share) 9 to13 (2008 20.3)

Basic loss per share (euro cents per share) -4 to -8 (2008 41.6 loss).

Mondi has disclosed basic underlying EPS, which is defined as basic EPS excluding the impact of special items, as the directors believe this provides a useful additional measure of the Group’s underlying performance. The disclosure of basic headline EPS is required under the Listings Requirements of the JSE Limited and has been calculated in accordance with Circular 3/2009 as issued by the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants.

The above information has neither been reviewed nor audited by Mondi’s auditors.

Editors’ notes:

Mondi is an international paper and packaging group and in 2008 had revenues of €6.3 billion. Its key operations and interests are in western Europe, emerging Europe, Russia and South Africa.

The Group is principally involved in the manufacture of uncoated fine paper (UFP), packaging paper and converted packaging products as well as speciality products.

Mondi is fully integrated across the paper and packaging process, from the growing of wood and manufacture of pulp and paper (including recycled paper) to the converting of packaging papers into corrugated packaging and industrial bags.

Mondi has production operations across 35 countries and had an average of 33,400 employees in 2008.

Mondi Limited
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)
(Registration number: 1967/013038/06)
JSE share code: MND ISIN: ZAE000097051

Mondi plc
(Incorporated in England and Wales)
(Registration number: 6209386)
JSE share code: MNP ISIN: GB00B1CRLC47
LSE share code: MNDI

Last change: 16/02/2010