"Some modest improvement in demand is now apparent in advertising-driven paper grades, but only from low levels," said Härmälä.
He added that the LWC market was still depressed due to oversupply and new capacity coming on-stream.
The Finnish-Swedish manufacturer's pre-tax profits fell 38% to £374m (EUR591.9m), while sales dropped 6.4% to £6bn compared to this time last year.
Sales of magazine paper grades fell 13% to £1.4bn, while newsprint sales were down 16% at £776m. Fine paper grade revenues were also down 14% to £1.4bn.
During the period Stora Enso announced a profit enhancement plan in reaction to the prolonged downturn, for which it took a one-time impairment charge of £736m in the third quarter (PrintWeek, 30 August).
Story by Andy Scott
Pictured: Harmala
