Feb 11 (Reuters) - Finnish forestry group Stora Enso (STERV.HE) , opens new tab said on Tuesday its fourth quarter operating profit more than doubled from a year earlier, as expected by analysts, driven by price increases and cost saving actions.

Adjusted operating profit rose to 121 million euros ($124.7 million) in the October-December quarter from 51 million euros in the same period in 2023. That was just below analysts' forecast of 122.4 million euros in a Vara Research poll.

Finland is a major producer and exporter of pulp, paper and other products that are based on logging in the country's vast forests.

Last October, Stora Enso put some of its Swedish forest assets up for sale to reduce debt.

It said in a statement on Tuesday that the sale process was ongoing, with an aim to sell about 12% of its total forest assets in Sweden of 1.4 million hectares. The fair value of those assets is 6.3 billion euros, it said.

"We are at the stage of the process where we are talking to several potential buyer candidates," CEO Hans Sohlstrom told Reuters, but said he could not comment on the price or the potential buyers at this stage.

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https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/finlands-stora-enso-q4-operating-profit-more-than-doubles-2025-02-11/