Return to Profit on Cards for Finnish Mint

The Mint of Finland, the leading exporter of coins and blanks with 99% of sales coming from overseas customers (up from 93% in 2019), reported near-flat consolidated revenue of €57.2 million in 2020, and an operating loss of €5.1 million (versus €1.4 million the previous year).

However, the Mint says that, because of the good order intake in 2020, the outlook for 2021 is good and earnings are expected to improve and turn positive.

The group comprise the Mint of Finland Ltd (in Finland), Mint of Finland GmbH (the German-based blank producer) and Spanish blank manufacturer Compañia Europea de Cospeles SA (CECO SA), in which it and Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre-Real Casa de la Moneda (each has a 50% holding). The Mint is owned by the Finnish state.

According to the company, the blank business has shown clear growth since 2019, but the circulation coin business has contracted and the relative profitability of both businesses weakened. During the year, commemorative coin sales in the webshop were discontinued and the commemorative coin business has now been merged into the circulation coin business. In 2020 the fluctuation in capacity utilisation reflected the cyclical nature of the industry.

Lower profitability was attributable to the product range, the low utilisation rate in the circulation coin business, investments in the IT environment and in new business opportunities, as well as extra costs and postponed tenders caused by COVID-19.

The company also rolled out cost saving measures to mitigate the effects of the low utilisation rate and COVID-19.