Commissioning process of Alma Manu’s new printing facility proceeding on schedule

Alma Media Corporation     Press release       January 15, 2013 at 15:00 (EET)

COMMISSIONING PROCESS OF ALMA MANU’S NEW PRINTING FACILITY PROCEEDING ON SCHEDULE

The construction and commissioning of the new newspaper printing facility of Alma Manu, Alma Media’s printing and distribution unit, is proceeding according to plan. So far, 95% of the installations of the printing and mailing equipment are completed and testing of the equipment commenced. The first commercial production runs will be executed during February as planned, and the entire newspaper production will be transferred to the new facility by the end of April.

When completed, the new printing facility will be one of the world’s most modern newspaper printing houses. Its extremely high automation level will particularly improve print quality. The new facility’s maximum production capacity is approximately 270,000 copies per hour, and three different products can be printed simultaneously. In the new facility, environmental issues are taken into account better than ever, for example through a waste paper recycling system integrated into the equipment.

“Our new printing technology enables the launching of totally new types of product formats in the Finnish market,” says Helvi Liukkaala, Managing Director, Alma Manu. “We are not merely a newspaper printer, instead, we can help our customers develop their print media business through our product development capabilities,” she continues. “Some of our new product formats are part runs for newspapers, as well as a magazine-type paper in the approximate format of 190 x 260 mm, to which glossy covers printed in another facility can be added.”

“Environmental responsibility was taken into account in the design of the new printing facility’s processes and the building itself from the start,” says Jussi Pekkarinen, responsible for Alma Manu’s environmental and quality issues. “We have always paid a lot of attention to being environmentally friendly. Our present printing facility in Tampere produces some 100 kilogrammes of destroyable waste annually, but in the new facility, we aim to reduce that by a further 30%. This is a really small amount, given that our present annual material consumption is in the region of 25,000 tonnes.”

An important milestone was reached on January 10 when Alma Manu’s administration and the Pirkanmaa region distribution unit moved into the new building. Alma Manu is the printer for Iltalehti, Kauppalehti and Aamulehti, among other papers.

For more information, please contact:

Helvi Liukkaala, Managing Director, Alma Manu Oy, tel. +358 10 665 3009

Alma Manu in brief

Alma Manu Oy is a pioneer of printing and distribution. It brings together the newspaper printing houses in Tampere and Rovaniemi as well as the morning newspaper delivery in the Pirkanmaa, Satakunta and Lapland provinces. Alma Manu prints 3.9 million newspaper copies weekly and delivers 1.6 million, making it Finland’s second largest newspaper morning delivery company. Alma Manu employs approximately 1,200 people and is part of Alma Media. Read more at www.almamanu.fi.

Alma Media in brief

Alma Media is a dynamic media company whose best-known products are Aamulehti, Iltalehti, Kauppalehti and Etuovi.com. Alma Media employs approximately 3,000 professionals. The company’s revenue in 2011 totalled MEUR 316.2 with an operating margin of 13.3 per cent. Alma Media’s share (ALN1V) is listed in the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Exchange. Read more at www.almamedia.com.

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