Feb 17, 2009. /Lesprom Network/. Catalyst Paper, a B.C.-based pulp and paper producer, widened its net loss sharply in 2008 as the company took after-tax charges linked to the closure of its Elk Falls sawdust pulp mill and linerboard business, as The Canadian Press informed Lesprom Network. The company reported it had a net annual loss of $221.1 million or 66 cents a share for the year ended December 31, compared with a net loss of $31.6 million or 15 cents in 2007. Annual sales rose to nearly $1.85 billion from $1.7 billion. Catalyst said it benefited from significant price increases for the company's paper and pulp products in the early part of the year, as well as the acquisition of the Snowflake mill in Arizona last April. "We made progress on our objective to improve financial, labour and operational efficiencies in 2008," President and CEO Richard Garneau said in a release. "The disciplined approach we have taken to eliminate unnecessary costs from the business helped the company adjust, in the fourth quarter, to the increasingly difficult economic and market conditions." In its financial report, the company also said it took an after-tax foreign exchange loss last year on the translation of U.S. dollar-denominated debt. Beyond its corporate streamlining, Catalyst said its cost reductions through the year centered on the company's plan to lower labour costs to $80 a tonne at its mills. In 2008, Catalyst cut about 390 jobs, or 14% of its workforce, and generated another $48 million in additional labour-cost savings. For the 4Q, Catalyst had a net loss of $48.5 million or 13 cents a share on sales of $492.2 million. Catalyst is the largest producer of specialty printing papers and newsprint in western North America and also produces market kraft pulp and owns Western Canada's largest paper recycling plant.