Norske Skog will, as announced earlier, publish figures for Q 2 2005 on August 2, after closing of trade at Oslo Stock Exchange.

 

A live webcast will be held from Norske Skog's offices at 5 PM CET the same day. More information about this event will be available on our web site www.norskeskog.com later on.   

 

The Silent Period ahead of the release starts on Tuesday, July 19.

 

Norske Skog's trade-weighted basket of currencies (the "Norske Skog Index") had an average value of  87.9 in Q 2, 2005, compared with 88.7 in Q 1, and 91.6 in Q 2, 2004. The value on June 30, 2005, was 87.3, compared with 88.9 on March 31 and 87.5 on December 31, 2004. The starting point of this index is January 1, 2002.

 

Norske Skog has adopted the IFRS accounting standard as of January 1, 2005, and financial figures are compared with restated figures for 2004.  The effects of IFRS on Norske Skog's financial statements are described in our annual report for 2004, and in a separate press release issued on February 3, 2005.

 

According to IFRS, biological assets shall be valued to fair value. This has given a value reduction on forest assets in Australia of around NOK 50 million. The amount is included in the consolidated EBIT in Q 2, but not in the region's EBIT.

 

There has not been any major change in the value of embedded derivatives related to Norske Skog's energy contracts.