Interim Report 1 January - 30 September 2005 

26 October 2005   8.00 am

Net sales: EUR 280.4 million (EUR 247.7 million)
Operating profit: EUR 30.2 million (EUR 31.7 million)
Earnings/share: EUR 0.54 (EUR 0.61)
Return on invested capital(ROI): 18.1% (23.8%)
Net sales for the entire year will show a higher growth rate than in 2004. The financial performance for the entire year is expected to be on the same level as in 2004, though not better.


This interim report has been prepared in accordance with the accounting and valuation principles of IFRS. The interim report has not been audited.


NET SALES AND FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE

Lassila & Tikanoja’s net sales for the third quarter totalled EUR 97.1 million (EUR 86.2 million). The operating profit came to EUR 13.3 million (EUR 13.9 million), which was 13.7% of net sales (16.1%). Organic growth was strong.

Net sales for the first nine months went up by 13.2% to EUR 280.4 million (EUR 247.7 million). 6.8 percentage points of this growth resulted from corporate acquisitions. Operating profit was EUR 30.2 million. The earnings per share were EUR 0.54 (EUR 0.61).


Environmental Services

Net sales for the first nine months by Environmental Services (waste management, recycling services, environmental products) amounted to EUR 133.3 million (EUR 116.8 million), an increase of 14.2%. The operating profit was EUR 18.1 million (EUR 20.1 million). Sales went well and organic growth strengthened.

Sales price rises did not fully cover the increase in costs. The financial performance was adversely affected by the labour dispute in the Finnish forest industry, higher fuel prices, the unsatisfactory result by the joint venture company Salvor Oy and a fall in the prices of recovered fuels.

Increases in costs will be passed on in the sales prices on 1 January 2006. Measures to improve cost-efficiency have already been implemented and are under way at the moment. Their main impact will be felt starting from the beginning of next year.

The recycling plant investments are proceeding according to plan: The Turku facility should be ready at the end of the year and the recycling plant in Riga in early 2006. Because of a change in legislation the number of power plants using recovered fuels will fall temporarily next year until new utilization capacity is built. Lassila & Tikanoja has, however, made comprehensive agreements for the supply of recovered fuel for next year.

Net sales of environmental products went up, but the rapid rise in the purchase prices of oil-based products was passed on in sales prices with a delay.


Property Services

Net sales for the first nine months by Property Services (property maintenance and cleaning services) totalled EUR 106.3 million (EUR 91.2 million), an increase of 16.6%. The operating profit grew significantly, reaching EUR 9.6 million (EUR 7.2 million). Sales have gone well from the second half of last year, and organic growth continued. The highly developed service products have sold well.

The financial performance of both product lines improved in relative terms, too, even though cleaning services’ performance was put under strain by the cost of reorganizing and taking over cleaning operations acquired in Moscow. A reorganization of production and the systematic use of new control and monitoring systems contributed to the steady improvement in property maintenance’s financial performance.

Cleaning operations in Latvia were strengthened in the third quarter by the acquisition of the Riga-based cleaning company 99Perfekts.


Industrial Services

Net sales for the first nine months by Industrial Services (hazardous waste services, industrial cleaning, damage repair services and wastewater services) totalled EUR 43.2 million (EUR 41.9 million), an increase of 3.2%. The operating profit came to EUR 3.8 million (EUR 5.6 million). Net sales by hazardous waste management and industrial cleaning went up, the latter’s as a result of corporate acquisitions.

The performance of the division was burdened by the labour dispute in the Finnish forest industry, as a result of which net sales were considerably below the predicted level. Adjustment measures in industrial cleaning will start to make their presence felt during the final part of the year.

The financial performance of hazardous waste management improved with growth in net sales and a rising recovery rate. The performance of damage repair services and wastewater services was hampered by unstable demand.


FINANCING

Net interest-bearing liabilities amounted to EUR 13.2 million less than a year earlier and EUR 11.5 million more than at the end of the previous financial year. Interest expenses decreased by EUR 0.9 million due to the lower interest rate level and the share issue carried out last year improving the company’s financial position. A finance income of EUR 0.4 million arose from the changes in the fair values of interest rate swaps (EUR 0.7 million). Net finance costs decreased by 27% and were 0.6% (0.9%) of net sales and 5.6% (7.3%) of operating profit.

EUR 9.2 million (EUR 4.8 million) were tied up in the working capital during the period. The equity ratio was 46.8% (32.9%) and the gearing rate was 57.8 (111.7).


INVESTMENTS

Gross investments totalled EUR 49.6 million (EUR 38.1 million). Machinery and equipment was replaced and production premises were expanded. Depreciation amounted to EUR 18.2 million (EUR 15.7 million).

Of the gross investments, EUR 19.3 million were spent on nine corporate acquisitions. Jäteässät Oy, Puhtaanapitoliike K. Kervinen Oy, the waste paper collecting business of Raahen Romu and the machine loading operations of Lahden Autokunta were acquired for Environmental Services. Tammelan Huolto Oy, a Latvian cleaning company 99 Perfekts and the cleaning operations of the Moscow-based Alfa Clean were acquired for Property Services. Kaakon Teollisuuspalvelu Oy and the hazardous waste management operations of Säiliö Cistern Puts Ab Oy were acquired for industrial cleaning. The combined annual net sales of the acquired companies total EUR 18.1 million.

The biggest company acquired was Jäteässät Oy, a waste management company operating in the Helsinki region. Its net sales totalled EUR 10 million in 2004 and it employed 65 people. The acquisition entered in force on 1 April 2005.


PERSONNEL

The average number of personnel converted to full-time employees was 6,183(5,621)in January – September. At the end of September the total number of employees working full-time and part-time was 7,657 people (6,647). Of them 1,245 people were abroad.


SHARES AND SHARE CAPITAL

Traded volume and price

The volume of trading in Lassila & Tikanoja plc shares on the Helsinki Stock Exchange from January through September was 12,274,021, which is 32.2% of the average number of shares. The value of trading was EUR 180.2 million. The trading price varied between EUR 13.10 and EUR 16.67. The closing price was EUR 15.90. The market capitalisation was EUR 607.7 million on 30 September 2005.


Share capital

At the beginning of the year 2005, the company’s registered share capital amounted to EUR 19,068,117. During the year 2005, a total of 85,700 shares have been subscribed for pursuant to the 2002A and 2002B stock options. After these subscriptions, the company’s share capital amounts to EUR 19,110,967, and the number of the shares is 38,221,934.


Dividend

The Annual General Meeting held on 4 April 2005 decided on a dividend of EUR 0.25 per share. The dividends, totalling EUR 9.5 million, were paid on 14 April 2005.


Stock option plan 2002

Pursuant to the 2002A and 2002B stock options, 227,260 new shares have been subscribed for. Pursuant to the rest of the 2002A stock options a maximum of 67,840 shares and on the basis of the rest of the 2002B stock options a maximum of 224,900 shares can be subscribed for. Pursuant to the rest of all stock options issued under stock option plan 2002 a maximum of 572,740 shares can be subscribed for, which is 1.50% of the current number of shares. Trading in the 2002A stock options on the Helsinki Stock Exchange ended on 24 October, and the subscription period ends on 28 October. The share subscription price is EUR 7.86.
The share subscription price for the 2002B stock options is EUR 7.02 and the subscription period 2 May 2005 – 30 October 2006, and for the 2002C stock options EUR 11.46 and 2 May 2006 – 30 October 2007.

28 key persons have been entitled to subscribe for the stock options 2002.

The 2002B stock options have been listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange since 2 May 2005.


Stock option plan 2005

The Annual General Meeting of 2005 decided to issue 600,000 stock options. Each stock option entitles its holder to subscribe for one share of Lassila & Tikanoja plc. All 170,000 2005A stock options have been subscribed for by 27 key persons of the Lassila & Tikanoja Group. All 200,000 2002B and all 230,000 2005C stock options have been subscribed for by a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lassila & Tikanoja plc to be granted at a later date to the present and future key personnel of the Lassila & Tikanoja Group.

The share subscription price for the 2005A stock options shall be the trade volume weighted average price of the Company's share on the Helsinki Stock Exchange in May 2005, rounded off to the nearest cent, for the 2005B stock options the trade volume weighted average price of the Company's share on the Helsinki Stock Exchange in May 2006, rounded off to the nearest cent, and for the 2005C stock options the trade volume weighted average price of the Company's share on the Helsinki Stock Exchange in May 2007, rounded off to the nearest cent. The subscription price of the stock options shall, as per the dividend record date, be reduced by the amount of dividend which exceeds 70% of the profit per share for the financial period to which the dividend applies. However, only such dividends whose distribution has been agreed upon after the option pricing period and which have been distributed prior to the share subscription are deducted from the subscription price. For the 2005A stock options the subscription price is EUR 14.22.

The share subscription periods are as follows: for the 2005A stock options 2 November 2007 – 29 May 2009, for the 2005B stock options 3 November 2008 – 31 May 2010, for the 2005C stock options 2 November 2009 – 31 May 2011.

The stock options issued under the stock option plan 2005 entitle their holders to subscribe for a maximum of 1.57% of the Company’s current number of shares.


Notifications on major holdings

On 10 March 2005, Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company reported that it holds 5.08% of the share capital and votes of Lassila & Tikanoja plc.


Authorisation for the Board of Directors

The Board of Directors is not authorised to effect any share issues or to launch a convertible bond or a bond with warrants. Neither is the Board authorised to decide on the repurchase nor disposal of the company’s own shares.


BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND AUDITORS

The Annual General Meeting of Shareholders held on 4 April 2005 confirmed five
as the number of the members of the Board of Directors. The following Board members were re-elected to the Board until the end of the following AGM: Heikki Hakala, Lasse Kurkilahti, Juhani Lassila, Juhani Maijala and Soili Suonoja.

PricewaterhouseCoopers Oy, Authorised Public Accountants, were elected auditors. Principal Auditor is Heikki Lassila, Authorised Public Accountant.

In a meeting held after the Annual General Meeting the Board of Directors re-elected Juhani Maijala as Chairman of the Board and Heikki Hakala as Vice Chairman. The position of the Chairman of the Board of Directors is no more full-time.


SUMMARY OF STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASES PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 7, CHAPTER 2 OF THE SECURITIES MARKETS ACT

4 April 2005: The changes caused by the transition to IFRS to accounting principles and figures reported for 2004.

4 April 2005: The Board of Directors resolved to apply for listing of 2002B stock option rights on the main list of the Helsinki Stock Exchange starting from 2 May 2005. A total of 260,000 shares can be subscribed for on the basis of the 2002B stock options. The subscription period is from 2 May 2005 to 30 October 2006.


PROSPECTS FOR THE REMAINDER OF 2005

Prospects in the company’s divisions have for the most part remained good. Demand in Environmental Services and Property Services is expected to continue strong. Demand in Industrial Services has returned to normal, but the shutdown work not done during the labour dispute in the Finnish forest industry will more than likely no longer be done this year.

Expansion abroad is proceeding as planned. The recycling plants under construction are being completed on schedule.

Net sales for the entire year will show a higher growth rate than in 2004. The financial performance for the entire year is expected to be on the same level as in 2004, though not better (2004 excluding the accounting impact of pension liabilities). The result will still be adversely affected by the investment made in growth and the labour dispute in the forest industry. Moreover, it has not been possible to pass on the substantial rise in fuel prices fully in sales prices.



TRANSITION TO IFRS

The changes caused by the transition to IFRS to accounting principles and figures reported for 2004 are explained in a stock exchange release disclosed on 4 April 2005 and on the company website. The accounting principles presented in the release have been applied in preparing this interim report.

A non-recurring pension liability amounting to EUR 10.5 million (EUR 7.8 million net of deferred tax assets) was recognised as revenue in the IFRS income statement for the final quarter of the year 2004, because the principles for calculating disability pension liabilities under the Finnish statutory employment pension scheme had changed (TEL). The IFRS income statement for the period 1 January - 31 December 2004 and key figures 12/2004 are presented below also excluding this revenue recognition.


INCOME STATEMENT 1.1. – 30.9.

The relative proportion of the estimated taxes due for the full financial year has been taken into account.



INCOME STATEMENT 1.1. – 31.12.2004

BALANCE SHEET

STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

RECONCILIATION OF PROFIT FOR THE PERIOD

RECONCILIATION OF EQUITY

KEY FIGURES

CASH FLOW STATEMENT

SEGMENT REPORTING

NET SALES

OPERATING PROFIT

OTHER SEGMENT REPORTING

SEGMENT REPORTING BY QUARTER