Sweden's 10 largest
manufacturers of wooden packaging

Vida Packaging AB makes more than half of its purchases within its ownership group. In 2025, the proportion was 53 per cent, compared with 49 per cent the year before. [7].

Vida itself highlights proximity to the group's sawmills as a basis for a stable supply of timber. The extensive internal trading shows how closely Packaging is tied to its ownership group.

The proportion covers purchases in general, however, not timber alone. Nor does it say anything about costs relative to external alternatives. That requires internal prices, transport arrangements and information on what is being purchased.

The rest of Europe accounted for the entire sales increase

Vida Packaging AB's net revenue increased from SEK 578,0 million in 2024 to SEK 662,8 million in 2025. Sales to the rest of Europe rose from SEK 92,0 million to SEK 185,3 million. Nordic sales fell from SEK 475,8 million to SEK 462,5 million. [7].

The increase in the rest of Europe exceeded the company's total increase. That was where the sales growth came from, while the Nordic markets declined. The figures describe customer markets; they show neither the number of pallets delivered nor where the products were manufactured.

Operating profit moved in the other direction, from SEK 49,9 million to SEK 45,9 million. The margin fell to 6,9 per cent. Compared with the company's margin of 13,4 per cent in 2022, it has roughly halved. [7].

Even in-house sawmills depend on raw material availability

The sawmills provide proximity to raw materials. They in turn depend on the regional supply of timber.

In May 2026, Canfor announced that Vida's sawmills in Urshult and Orrefors would close permanently. The owner cited an imbalance between production capacity and fibre availability in southern Sweden. [10].

The announcement concerns the sawmills and does not establish any supply problems or factory closures at Packaging. It does, however, show a limitation of the integrated model: even a group with its own sawmills must adapt to raw material availability.

The Karl Hedin name remains. Since 9 May 2025, the packaging business has been owned by DTE.

The deal covered ten production sites in Sweden and one in Estonia, according to the buyer's announcement. Aven Rabbalshede had already belonged to the Danish group since 2015. Two familiar Swedish names thus came under the same owner. [19], [18].

DTE is 60 per cent owned by DTE Holding and 40 per cent by Kirk Kapital Strategic Investments. Kirk Kapital's investment was announced in 2020, with further consolidation in Sweden and Norway as the stated strategy. The Hedin acquisition shows how a family investor's capital can support a growing industrial group.

Hedin's profit excluding gains on asset disposals

Sales rose by 11,5 per cent in 2025. Operating profit increased from SEK 63,5 million to SEK 93,1 million, a rise of around 46 per cent.

Calculated from the company's annual report 2025, p. 3 and note 3, p. 11. The final row is not a full normalisation of profit. [12].

The increase in disposal gains amounts to 96,7 per cent of the increase in operating profit. Deducting this item alone from both years leaves an improvement of 1,5 per cent.

Gross profit also fell slightly despite higher sales. The picture of ongoing operations is therefore considerably more subdued than the profit increase initially suggests.

One asset transaction is described in the directors' report: the Krylbo properties were sold to Karl Hedin Sågverk in May. The entire disposal gain cannot, however, be attributed to these properties, because the note does not allocate the amount to individual assets.

Nor is the profit remaining after this deduction a pure factory profit. It includes other items, among them income from group administration and seconded staff. The calculation removes one large, clearly identified item; it does not make the rest of the business fully comparable from year to year.

Hedin became a lender to its new owner

At the end of 2025, the Hedin company had net lending of SEK 142 million to DTE, compared with zero the year before. The company also states that it had no external loans. [12].

The packaging company was thus a lender to its new parent group at year-end. How that capital was subsequently used is not disclosed. The lending therefore provides no basis for claiming that Hedin financed its own acquisition.

DTE's own annual report contains another trace of the deal: DKK 317,6 million in initial goodwill from the Hedin acquisition. The international group's financial expenses rose from DKK 6,3 million to DKK 47,9 million. Management links the changed indebtedness and increased costs to the acquisition. [13].

The goodwill figure is neither the purchase price nor an investment in new production machinery. The financial expenses relate to the entire international DTE group and must not be read as a separate Swedish interest bill.

The acquisition has therefore changed both DTE's operations and its financing. The Hedin company is now also part of the internal capital flows.

Aven: lower sales in Sweden, higher sales in the rest of Europe

Aven's revenue was almost unchanged in 2025. Beneath the total, however, customer markets shifted: Sweden declined from SEK 188,4 million to SEK 181,5 million, while the rest of Europe increased from SEK 35,2 million to SEK 42,8 million.

The company paid SEK 50 million in dividends during the year and reported around SEK 80 million in a group account. The account forms part of the group's shared financing and needs to be assessed on its terms, rather than treated as equivalent to a standalone bank cash balance. [11].

Nefab Packaging Sweden had invested in machinery and capacity for Northvolt's project. When the customer went bankrupt, the supplier was affected too.

In its 2025 directors' report, the company describes lost revenue, reduced business benefits and a negative impact on capital flows. Capital had already been committed when the conditions for the assignment changed. [20].

No separate Northvolt loss is stated in kronor. Neither all investment nor the entire year's cash flow change can be attributed to the customer. The documented exposure is that the bankruptcy affected operations in which capital had already been invested for the assignment.

Higher revenue but lower gross profit

Net revenue increased from SEK 536,8 million to SEK 559,7 million in 2025. Gross profit meanwhile fell from SEK 124,2 million to SEK 123,7 million.

The gross margin therefore fell from 23,1 to 22,1 per cent. Each krona of sales left less after the cost of goods sold.

Operating profit nevertheless improved, from SEK 17,8 million to SEK 19,5 million. Other operating items provide part of the explanation. Their net improvement exceeded the entire increase in operating profit. Income includes foreign exchange items and rental income, but other expenses are also included in the comparison. [20].

Cash flow from operating activities fell by around 84 per cent

The year-on-year difference is even larger in cash flow from operating activities. It fell from SEK 60,9 million to SEK 9,6 million.

Two lines account for a large part of the change. Receivables contributed positively to cash flow by SEK 17,3 million in 2024 but negatively by SEK 21,0 million in 2025. Dividends received meanwhile fell from SEK 14 million to SEK 2 million.

The combined swing in these items is SEK 50,3 million, close to the total decline in cash flow from operating activities of SEK 51,2 million. Other items also changed, partly offsetting one another. [20].

The comparison identifies where the change appears in the accounts, but establishes neither late customer payments nor that Northvolt caused the entire swing. The cash flow contribution from receivables can have several explanations, and the annual report gives no full breakdown by customer.

In 2024 and 2025, the company also paid a combined total of more than SEK 92 million for investments in tangible assets. The amount is not separately identified as a Northvolt investment. It shows the scale of investment over two years in which operating cash flow also changed sharply.

Management also describes brighter developments after summer 2025: order intake strengthened, mainly in energy and defence, and the order book ahead of 2026 was considered healthy. That is the company's own assessment in the same annual report.

Two mergers change the comparison for 2026

On 30 January 2026, both Nefab Edge Emballage and Nefab Trio-Emballage merged into Packaging Sweden. The same company registration number subsequently covers more operations. Any future increase in revenue therefore needs to be split between added operations and developments in the former company. [20].

The ownership history includes private equity, but current ownership looks different. Nordic Capital was a co-owner in 2007–2014. The founding family bought back Nefab in autumn 2014, and FAM acquired a half stake in 2015. Ultimate ownership is now shared between the founding family and the Wallenberg sphere. [21], [22].

The analysis covers Nefab Packaging Sweden AB's own income statement and cash flow statement. The global Nefab group has a broader range of operations. [20].

Norrlandspall sells pallets that it subsequently wants to buy back. The journey from the customer to the next use is part of the business too.

Pallets need to be collected, assessed, sorted and sometimes repaired. Transport and handling are central parts of the offering. This business places different demands on the organisation from delivering a newly manufactured pallet.

Within Retursystem Byggpall Norrlandspall is responsible for delivery, collection, quality assessment and repurchasing. The construction industry's steering group is the governing body and makes decisions on matters including prices and quality. Returlogistik coordinates and develops the system. [24].

Norrlandspall therefore performs an operational role within a wider industry system. The company does not own and control Byggpall on its own.

SEK 37 is not the same as profit

A full-size pallet costs SEK 197 according to Byggpall's public price list, checked on 9 October 2026. For direct returns to Norrlandspall, the repurchase payment is SEK 160, even if the pallet is damaged.

The difference is SEK 37. It is not a measure of profit: collection, transport, sorting, repairs and administration must also be paid for.

The terms also put the scale of the flows at the centre. Freight is included for deliveries of at least 300 construction pallets and collections of at least 85 pallets. Smaller volumes incur a freight charge. [25].

The customer receives a clear repurchase value. The operator's economics meanwhile depend on how efficiently pallets can be collected and handled. When intact and damaged pallets attract the same repurchase payment, sorting outcomes and repair costs become particularly relevant.

Norrlandspall describes its “Repair light” service, in which loose components are repaired directly during sorting. The pallet can then be upgraded without a separate repair flow. It is a tangible example of how handling can add value between a pallet's return and its next delivery. [26].

Operating profit more than doubled

In 2025, the Norrlandspall Invest group's revenue increased by just under four per cent to SEK 321,3 million. Operating profit rose from SEK 12,6 million to SEK 26,0 million.

The margin improved from 4,1 to 8,1 per cent. The group therefore generated substantially more profit from sales that grew only moderately. [23].

The contributions from prices, repairs, transport efficiency or other changes are not reported separately. The sorting method therefore cannot be identified as the cause of the profit increase.

The group also includes Norwegian operations, property companies and Returpallsystemet Sverige. The 8,1 per cent margin applies to this entire group, not to the profitability of an individual Swedish return system.

For the customer, the offering covers both the pallet and its subsequent handling. Collections, repurchase terms and quality assessments can matter as much as manufacturing capacity.

Gyllsjö has built a production chain extending beyond the pallet factory itself. The group has its own sawmill and also manufactures nails through Industrispik Linan. Its description of operations includes recycling and the use of by-products. [29], [30].

The close links between the stages are evident in machinery supplier L.O.A.B's announcement of a new optimising cross-cutting line in November 2025. According to the supplier, more than 90 per cent of that particular line's incoming timber comes from Gyllsjö's own sawmill. The proportion refers to the line's input, not the group's total purchasing. [31].

Sawing and cutting can thus be adapted to in-house pallet production. The supplier highlights improved yield and flexibility, but publishes no independently measured savings.

Material costs rose more than revenue

In the financial year to August 2025, the group's net revenue increased from SEK 311,0 million to SEK 315,8 million. Operating profit fell from SEK 26,5 million to SEK 16,6 million.

The cost of raw materials and consumables rose by SEK 14,2 million. Sales increased by SEK 4,8 million. Staff costs and depreciation also rose.

The change in inventories of work in progress and finished goods meanwhile made a larger positive contribution to profit. This item affects how the year's production is recorded, even if the products have not yet been sold to a customer. [27].

The cost increases can be traced, but the accounts do not distinguish between changes in purchasing prices, material volumes and product mix. A reliable cost per pallet therefore cannot be calculated.

Cash flow from operating activities fell considerably less than operating profit: from SEK 24,3 million to SEK 22,4 million. Depreciation and changes in capital tied up in the business contributed to the different paths of profit and payments. Other flows during the year included investment and dividends; by year-end, cash had fallen to SEK 20,0 million. [27].

The fire occurred after the year-end

On 19 December 2025, a fire broke out in two covered storage areas holding finished goods at Gyllsjö. The company stated that nobody was injured and initially assessed that deliveries could be maintained. [32].

In a later update, Gyllsjö repeated CEO Björn Olsson Lissner's statement in Helsingborgs Dagblad that no order had been missed. Rebuilding was then due to begin. The delivery information comes from the company's publication; no full financial assessment of the damage is disclosed. [33].

The fire occurred after the August year-end and cannot explain the decline in profit reported in those accounts. It is, however, an event to follow in later reports, alongside the rebuilding.

The group figure of SEK 315,8 million also covers more than the pallet factory. It includes a nail company, an energy company and a 90 per cent interest in a limited partnership. The holding's separate contribution is not disclosed, and revenue is not separately reported as sales of wooden packaging alone. [27].

Åsljunga-Pallen's family history runs from Mauritz to Olle and then to Stefan Nilsson. According to the company history, Stefan took over in 1990 and still owns and runs the business as the third generation. [35].

Continuity of ownership has been accompanied by major investment. In the financial year to June 2024, the group paid SEK 58,6 million for investments in tangible assets and took out SEK 42,4 million in new loans. The accounts do not link every krona borrowed to a specific project, but investment and new borrowing characterised the same year.

The next financial year was different. Investment payments fell to SEK 2,1 million, no new loans were taken out and the group repaid SEK 12,1 million in loan principal. [34].

Sales recover, the margin lags behind

In the year to June 2025, group sales rose by more than 15 per cent to SEK 293,9 million. Operating profit improved from SEK 10,2 million to SEK 12,5 million.

The margin rose slightly to 4,3 per cent. It was still far from the 22,0 per cent recorded in 2022 and 14,9 per cent in 2023. [34].

Sales and profit have turned upwards, but the margin remains well below previous levels. The highest historical margin is not, however, an established measure of what the group can earn over time.

Cash flow from operating activities increased to SEK 36,5 million. Reduced capital tied up in inventory contributed SEK 11,7 million. Together with lower investment payments, this provided room for loan repayments, SEK six million in dividends and a larger year-end cash balance.

Releasing cash from inventory can substantially improve room to manoeuvre. The same contribution cannot, however, be assumed year after year. Once inventory has been reduced, new cash flows must come from continued earnings or other changes.

The sales increase came after the year of major investment. The accounts do not, however, report the return on that investment separately or establish that the investment caused the increase.

Sawmills and pallet production tie up capital at several stages. Here, the same owner follows decisions through those stages: from investment and borrowing to production and loan repayments.

GLF is a third-generation family business. Its family history dates back to 1941, when Malte Persson entered the business. His son Kent Persson and then his grandson Johan Wester have carried it forward. [36].

GLF increased sales from SEK 252,0 million to SEK 270,3 million in 2025. Operating profit meanwhile fell from SEK 7,3 million to SEK 5,8 million. The margin declined to 2,1 per cent. [37].

The sales increase therefore brought no rise in operating profit and did not halt the longer decline in margins. The operating margin was 9,2 per cent in 2022, 7,8 per cent in 2023 and 2,9 per cent in 2024.

The group includes Swedish and Polish operations and a supporting property structure. According to the annual report, Johan Wester owns all shares in the parent company.

Revenue is affected by both prices and volumes

In the 2023 directors' report, management attributed the Genarp company's revenue decline to both lower raw material prices and reduced customer volumes. This relates to that part of the group, not a full breakdown of the group's sales performance. [37].

Prices and volumes can therefore change at the same time. A revenue decline does not automatically mean that the number of products delivered fell by the same amount. The increase in 2025 also needs to be broken down to distinguish more deliveries from changes in prices and product mix.

The business is also international. Around 38 per cent of sales in 2025 went to the rest of the EEA. This is a breakdown by customer market, not between Swedish and Polish production. [37].

Changes in operating liabilities strengthened cash flow

Despite lower operating profit, reported cash flow from operating activities increased from SEK 6,4 million to SEK 14,7 million.

Much of the change lies in operating liabilities. Their movement made a positive cash flow contribution of SEK 6,6 million in 2025, compared with a negative contribution of SEK 0,8 million the year before. The swing amounts to almost 89 per cent of the improvement in reported operating cash flow. [37].

The calculation compares two accounting items and establishes no late supplier payments. It does, however, show why better cash flow needs to be read alongside changes in working capital and weaker earnings.

Investment required payments of SEK 10,7 million. Financing generated a net outflow of SEK 7,9 million, including SEK five million in dividends paid. Year-end cash fell from SEK 9,6 million to SEK 5,3 million.

The identified bank loans and drawn overdraft, less cash at bank, amounted to around SEK 44,4 million at year-end. The calculation describes these balance sheet items and does not cover all financing commitments. Nor is it a credit assessment.

GLF still needs to turn its higher sales into better operating profit and more sustainable cash flow.

Kjell & Co is expanding geographically and is run with the family in management. Founder Göran's son Johan is CEO and his son Fredrik is production manager, according to the company's presentation. [39].

In the consolidated accounts under Triple Kjell, revenue increased from SEK 212,7 million to SEK 264,7 million in 2025. Operating profit rose by more than 53 per cent to SEK 12,6 million.

Both sales and profit improved. Management nevertheless describes price pressure, particularly on used goods. The reuse business is also affected by price movements. [38].

Recovery after two weaker years

Compared with 2022, sales in 2025 were only just over four per cent higher. Operating profit was around 43 per cent lower. The margin was 4,8 per cent, against 8,7 per cent in 2022.

The latest increase therefore follows years of declining sales. The group also bought Kjell & Co Stockholm in 2022; the comparison covers the same reporting group, but not a guaranteed unchanged set of companies. [38].

Kumla's contribution must be assessed in later accounts

At the end of 2025, the group reported SEK 55,0 million in construction in progress. Management described the warehousing and production facility in Kumla as the largest investment, with completion expected in 2026. The entire SEK 55,0 million item is not, however, explicitly allocated to Kumla.

According to the company website, the new facility was added in June 2026. It was therefore not yet operating during the year in which sales increased. [38], [39].

Debt has also grown. Identified liabilities to banks and credit institutions and the drawn overdraft, less cash at bank, increased from around SEK 83,2 million to SEK 117,8 million between the two year-ends. The balance sheet does not, however, show how each part of the investment was paid for.

The group reports substantial property values and applies finance lease accounting. A straightforward debt comparison with businesses renting their premises or accounting for leases differently would therefore be misleading. [38].

Capital was already committed and debt had grown when the accounts were prepared. The Kumla facility's contribution to margins and cash flow can only be followed in later reports.

KRP, Allbox, Troedsson & Nilsson and Skånes Pallservice face customers under different names. In the consolidated accounts, they belong to the same ownership structure under Simlinge Finans.

The acquisitions span several decades. KRP's own history includes the purchases of Troedsson & Nilsson in 1999, Allbox & BHB in 2009 and Skånes Pallservice in 2015. [45].

In 2025, group net revenue rose by 4,7 per cent to SEK 253,6 million. Operating profit, however, fell from SEK 27,5 million to SEK 26,4 million. The margin slipped from 11,3 to 10,4 per cent. The group grew, but kept less operating profit from each krona of revenue. [60].

Subsidiary revenues cannot simply be added together

Adding the four subsidiaries' sales in 2024 gives SEK 266,8 million. That is SEK 24,6 million more than the entire Simlinge group's reported revenue.

Sources: each original annual report for 2025, comparative figures for 2024, and Simlinge's consolidated annual report for 2024. The total and difference are calculated from unrounded figures; the table's rounded components may therefore differ from the total. Links and pages are given in the source list.

The difference is a tangible example of why company registry figures cannot be added together to establish the correct group size. Intra-group sales must be eliminated. The four companies are also not the entire group, so the SEK 24,6 million difference is not a full reconciliation of all eliminations.

Another item can also be mistaken for an acquisition. The 2024 annual report includes around SEK 34 million in subsidiary shares taken over through a merger. This was an internal reorganisation, rather than a new external acquisition. The group's cash flow statement likewise shows no acquisition outflow for the transaction. [40].

Acquisitions and a sizeable cash balance

At the end of 2025, the group held SEK 106,6 million in cash, compared with SEK 105,8 million a year earlier. Cash flow from operating activities was SEK 29,7 million and net cash payments for acquisitions were SEK 13,8 million. The cash balance was therefore largely unchanged after a year of acquisitions. [60].

The group also makes lease payments: in 2024, these totalled SEK 9,8 million. The payments are an annual expense and cannot be added to bank loans as debt. They show why any assessment of the group's financing must consider obligations beyond the net balance of bank borrowings and cash at bank. [40].

In September 2025, the seller's adviser announced that Palcon Trading had been acquired through a holding company of KRP. The announcement names Anders Nilsson as KRP's owner and CEO, but gives no purchase price. [46].

The 2025 consolidated financial statements confirm both the purchase of Palcon and the acquisition of Klexab Export Emballage AB. The companies are included from the date the group obtained control. The 4,7 per cent growth therefore includes acquisitions and does not solely reflect the performance of the existing businesses. [60].

The name Simlinge Finans does not imply private equity ownership.

Hillerstorps Special Emballage tops a hundred million kronor in revenue as profitability weakens. In the 2024/25 financial year, net revenue rose from SEK 95,2 million to SEK 102,3 million, an increase of 7,5 per cent. Operating profit moved in the opposite direction: from SEK 7,4 million to SEK 2,8 million. [47].

The operating margin fell from 7,75 to 2,73 per cent. For every hundred kronor in sales, less than three kronor remained in operating profit. The year before, it was closer to eight. [47].

The company makes pallets, pallet collars and bespoke packaging at its own factory in Kävsjö. Its annual report describes a weak European packaging market and increased sales efforts. The company attributes its growth to new, larger customers and expansion among existing customers. It does not, however, break down the effect of prices, volumes and product mix on sales. [47].

Company figures for two twelve-month financial years ending in June. Margins are our calculations. Amounts are stated in SEK million, rounded to three decimal places. [47].

Investment continues

The annual report describes new machinery and a new truck for a transport operation running at high utilisation. In March 2025, HSE also reported on a machine installed early in the year to handle larger products. The aim is to broaden its production capabilities, but neither actual output nor the return on these investments is disclosed. [51].

The cash flow statement reports SEK 9,1 million of investment in property, plant and equipment during 2024/25, following SEK 17,5 million the year before. That adds up to SEK 26,6 million over two years. These are capital expenditure payments, not a measure of the increase in annual production capacity. [47].

Raw material costs, staff costs and depreciation increased during the year. The average number of employees rose from 13 to 17. The directors' report also refers to around 25 employees, but this describes the workforce rather than the annual average. [47].

The higher costs can be traced in the accounts. They do not, however, show the individual effects of investment levels, purchase prices, staffing and customer mix on the margin.

Bank debt rose at the same time, from SEK 13,1 million to SEK 17,5 million, including long-term and short-term bank loans and the drawn overdraft. Expansion is therefore taking place alongside rising borrowing. More equipment can generate future revenue; loans require future payments even if sales stall. [47].

The family business and the investment company

HSE describes the business as a family company and factory manager Erik Davidsson as a member of the third generation. The manufacturer is owned by HSE Hörnstenen AB. [50].

Hörnstenen manages subsidiaries and describes investments in consultancy business HSE Focus and in Heijel Production in its 2024/25 annual report. The SEK 102,3 million shown in the revenue list belongs to Hillerstorps Special Emballage AB. The owner's other investments are excluded from that figure. [48].

The manufacturer's balance sheet also shows a new long-term intra-group receivable of SEK 2,2 million. Capital is thus tied up within the ownership group, but the report identifies neither the counterparty nor the use of the funds. It provides no evidence linking this receivable to machinery investments or to a particular sister company. [47].

In September 2025, HSE also presented new office space. The announcement came after the June year-end. It points to continuing expansion plans, but cannot explain the results of the financial year used in this comparison. [52].