Commenting on reported results, Mark W. Kowlzan, Chairman and CEO, said, “Overall, our operations performed exceptionally well despite annual maintenance outages at three of our containerboard mills. Our corrugated products demand was strong, and containerboard inventories ended the quarter flat with last quarter. Manufacturing and freight costs across our packaging and paper mills as well as our box plants were outstanding, and white paper volume and mix showed positive trends from the fourth quarter and achieved an EBITDA margin of 18.2%. Our white paper customers were notified of price increases for printing and converting grades and cutsize office papers with effective dates beginning in the 2Q. Finally, we repurchased $100 million of our stock which completed our $150 million share repurchase program that was authorized in July of 2015. The Board of Directors authorized a new $200 million share repurchase program that we announced in February.”
PCA is the fourth largest producer of containerboard and corrugated packaging products in the United States and the third largest producer of uncoated freesheet paper in North America.
