Finland’s Huhtamaki books bigger than expected gain from Russia divestment

Oct 21 (Reuters) – Finnish maker of packaging for food
and beverages Huhtamaki said on Friday it had booked
a bigger than expected gain of 37.5 million euros ($36.7
million) in its third quarter from the divestment of its Russian
operations.

In September, the group expected to book a gain of
approximately 15 million euros after it sold its operations in
Russia to Espetina Ltd, a holding company owned by Alexander
Govor and Iury Kushnerov, for 151 million euros.

The Finnish group posted adjusted operating earnings of
101.5 million euros for July-September, against analysts’
average estimate of 94.9 million euros in a poll by Vara
research.

($1 = 1.0233 euros)
(Reporting by Jagoda Darlak
Editing by Mark Potter)