Domtar Corporation reported net earnings of $38 million for the 2Q 2017, compared to net earnings of $20 million for the 1Q 2017 and net earnings of $18 million for the 2Q 2016. Sales for the 2Q of 2017 were $1.2 billion, as the company said in the press release received by Lesprom Network.
Domtar Corporation had earnings before items of $38 million for the 2Q 2017 compared to earnings before items of $20 million for the 1Q 2017 and earnings before items of $38 million for the 2Q 2016.
“Our pulp price momentum continued in the quarter following the implementation of several price increases,” said John D. Williams, President and CEO. “Productivity was strong, resulting in good cost performance despite the high level of scheduled major maintenance outages at several pulp and paper mills. Notably, Ashdown had an excellent operating quarter and continued to make significant strides on increasing production of fluff pulp. Customer qualifications continue to progress well and we are on track to ramp-up to approximately 50% fluff pulp sales by year-end.”
Mr. Williams added, “In spite of competitive market pressures, we delivered a solid performance in Personal Care. We continued to show broad-based, year-over-year volume growth across most of our product channels, while benefits from our cost savings and efficiency improvement projects partially offset price erosion. We expect to continue to invest in innovation, marketing and targeted growth initiatives to capture the opportunities in our categories and geographies.”
Operating income was $64 million in the 2Q 2017 compared to operating income of $42 million in the 1Q 2017. Depreciation and amortization totaled $79 million in the 2Q 2017.
The increase in operating income in the 2Q 2017 was the result of higher average selling prices for pulp, lower raw material costs, favorable productivity and lower maintenance costs. These factors were partially offset by lower volume, higher selling, general and administrative expenses, and higher freight costs.
Domtar is a leading provider of a wide variety of fiber-based products including communication, specialty and packaging papers, market pulp and absorbent hygiene products.
