SPCI´99: Lidman opens the fair in Stockholm
Karl-Ewert Lidman,chairmanof SPCI, yesterday welcomeda packed hall of delegates and visitors as he opened this year's exhibition and conference.Mr Lidman said he hoped the event would provide a glimpse at the technology which would shape the paper and pulp industry at the beginning of the next millennium. Progress in research and development was also likely to be a positive outcome of SPCI '99, he added.The structure of pulp and paper companies and the thinking of those who run them must change if they are to attract investment in the future, the conference heard yesterday.Marcus Wallenberg, president of Investor AB - a large shareholder in Stora Enso, said that the stock market performance of the industry had in recent years "been relatively bad and the underlying profitability low", which was clearly off-putting for investors."From a shareholder's perspective the performance has not been up to standard and sometimes one wonders if the interests of the companies and their shareholders have been properly aligned. These two groups seem to have had different agendas, where some companies have prioritised growth and scale at the cost of shareholder return," he said.(Papernews)