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Mondi Group: Trading Statement

Wednesday 29. July 2009 - Mondi today issued a trading statement ahead of its results for the six months to 30 June 2009, which will be released on 5 August 2009.

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 six months ended 30 June 2009, which will be released on 5 August 2009. As announced in the Interim Management Statement, dated 7 May 2009, the difficult trading conditions experienced in the latter part of 2008 continued into the first quarter of 2009. It was further announced that Group underlying operating profit for the first quarter of 2009 was similar to that of the final quarter of 2008. It can now be confirmed that Group underlying operating profit for the second quarter of 2009 is expected to be similar to that of the first quarter. <(p>
Results for the six months ended 30 June 2009 have been further impacted by a net special items charge for the period of circa €80 million (including impairment charges of around €44 million), mainly relating to previously announced restructuring actions taken in response to market conditions. This compares to a net special items charge of €39 million in the prior period.
Accordingly, Mondi advises that it expects earnings per share to be within the ranges shown below:

Underlying earnings per share (euro cents per share) 5 to10 (2008 24.8 Reported)
Headline loss/earnings per share (euro cents per share) -3 to 2 (2008 18.3 profit Reported)
Basic loss per share (euro cents per share) -10 to -5 (2008 17.1 profit Reported).
Mondi has disclosed 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 Headline EPS is required under the Listings Requirements of the JSE Limited and has been calculated in accordance with Circular 8/2007 as issued by the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants.
The above information has neither been reviewed nor audited by Mondi’s auditors.

http://www.mondigroup.com
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