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Mint of Finland to close

Started by Pabitra, August 09, 2024, 07:02:16 AM

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The Finnish Mint will be closed

The state-owned Suomen Rahapaja will be closed. The matter is confirmed to Iltalehti by the company's CEO, Jonne Hankimaa. The company will be run down in an orderly manner during the next year.

Suomen Rahapaja is a private commercial company that manufactures coins to the order of its customers and offers related services. The company's customers are mainly central banks and state finance ministries of different countries. The Finnish Mint has a long tradition. It was founded in 1860 by the decision of the Russian Tsar Alexander II . Mint production began four years later. Fast forward 160 years, the Mint is coming to the end of the road.

The decommissioning process proceeds according to the terms of customer projects. The goal is to ensure that current customer and supplier commitments are completed in accordance with the agreements, says Hankimaa. According to him, these will be finished next spring. Hankimaa says that the reason for the end of operations is the global payment changes, which have had a weakening effect on business conditions and future prospects.

During the summer, the company held change negotiations, which included all of our 37 employees, Hankimaa says.

After the closure, circulation coins and collectors coins will no longer be produced in Finland. At the same time, the export of these products abroad will end. Hankimaa says that, for example, Finland's collectors coins have not been produced by the Finnish Mint for five years, because the state tendered them abroad.

"Leading Coin Exporters"

The Finnish Mint's website states that it is one of the world's leading exporters of coins. The Finnish Mint's target markets are Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. In the company's most recent financial statements, it is reported that Finland's share of the entire turnover was only one percent. The Finnish Mint's business is almost entirely export, while most of the world's mints with a large domestic market deliver a large part to the domestic market, Hankimaa illustrates. He says that there are plenty of players in the coin market in other parts of the world, even if the Finnish Mint is closed down.

Suomen Rahapajan has been involved in developing the Coiniverse application aimed at coin collectors. The application started as an independent company in August last year. The mint remained in the company as a minority owner. According to the acquiring country, the termination does not affect the application in any way.

Dismal financial figures

The company's financial information shows that the business has been very loss-making in recent years. At the end of the financial year last year, the company's profit fell to a loss of almost 6.8 million euros. In 2022, the operating loss was no less than 10 million euros. In 2021, the company made almost 7.7 million euros in operating profit.

In 2021, the company's turnover was 76.5 million euros. It fell to 20.9 million euros the following year. Last year, the turnover improved to almost 32 million euros. At the end of last year, the company's equity ratio was 19.6 percent. It decreased from the end of 2022 by almost 40 percentage points. The equity ratio measures, among other things, the company's solvency and loss tolerance. A self-sufficiency rate of 19 percent is interpreted as avoidable.

The most recent financial statement states that the company's financial position has weakened significantly since the end of the financial year. The reason for the decline is poor profitability and the financial negotiations with the main financier. The political strikes at the beginning of the year made the company's deliveries difficult. The financial statements say that the continuity of operations is estimated to be secured for the next 12 months.

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