Aki Ojanen, CEO of Aspo Group, comments on the first quarter of 2021: Aspo achieved strong results during the first quarter of 2021, even though the coronavirus pandemic continues to have a negative impact on the operating conditions of some of our businesses. The Group’s operating profit reached a new record of EUR 7.9 (4.0) million during the first quarter. This significant increase in the operating profit resulted from Telko’s considerably improved profitability, with ESL Shipping’s Q1 results also being the strongest in its history. Our potential to achieve our financial targets set for 2023 was already reflected strongly in our first quarter’s figures. Our operating profit rate increased to the targeted 6%, our return on equity exceeded the target of 20% and gearing continued to decrease towards the targeted 130%. This trend results from correct choices and the unrelenting fulfillment of our strategy in our businesses.