An important design criterion of metal sheet faced lightweight sandwich panels is the compression strength of the face layer. Failure mode of a thin profiled face is characterized by local buckling of the flanges and the web of the profile, by column-type buckling of the entire profile and by yielding of the most stressed flange. Calculation models based on analytical studies have been developed to determine the critical buckling stresses. The evaluation of the compressive resistance at the ultimate limit state is a more difficult task. The paper studies the applicability of the design expressions given in Eurocode 3 to the evaluation of compressive resistance of face profiles.