Consumer tissue group Essity Q3 core profit falls more than expected

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Hygiene products group Essity <ESSITYb.ST> posted on Monday a bigger slide than expected in third-quarter core profit as accelerating pulp and energy costs outweighed higher selling prices and cost savings.

Operating profit before amortisation and one-off items at the Swedish group, which was spun off from forestry firm SCA <SCAb.ST> in 2017, shrank 12 percent from a year ago to 3.02 billion crowns ($330.7 million).

Analysts' mean forecast in a Reuters poll had been for a 3 percent drop.

Essity had warned in July that raw material costs would be up significantly, and in September launched a new group-wide cost cutting programme.

($1 = 9.1316 Swedish crowns)

(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom; editing by Johannes Hellstrom)