Oct 25, 2011. /Lesprom Network/. Buckeye Technologies Inc. reported that its 1Q 2012 net income decreased to $41.11 million from $64.42 million last year. Earnings per share was $1.02 compared to $1.59 prior year. Adjusted net income rose 118% as compared to the prior year period’s $13.7 million, which excluded net income of $51.3 million from cellulosic biofuel credits generated in 2009. Net sales of $240 million were up 19% versus last year’s 1Q sales of $202 million. Sales benefited from higher selling prices and increased cotton linter pulp shipment volume. Comparing the 1Q of fiscal 2012 to the 4Q of fiscal 2011, sales were down $16 million or 6% lower as we rebuilt inventories at Foley mill back to target levels and nonwovens shipment volume was down. Chairman and CEO John B. Crowe said, “We were pleased with our 1Q fiscal 2012 financial results. As we said on our August earnings call, our record 4Q revenue of $256 million was going to be hard to duplicate in the 1Q due to very low beginning specialty wood fibers inventory levels. Our 1Q sales revenue of $240 million is our second best quarter ever, and our gross margin of 23.7% of sales was significantly better compared to last year’s 18.0%. The key drivers to year over year improvements continue to be strong markets and selling prices, better capacity utilization at our Memphis specialty cotton fibers plant, and benefits from our cost improvement initiatives. We maintained a balanced approach to the allocation of the cash flow generated during the quarter. Our excellent first quarter cash flow generation allowed us to pay a record bonus to all of our employees (reflecting the record FY 2011 performance), invest $11 million in capital projects, repurchase 356,000 shares ($8.6 million) of Buckeye common stock, increase our dividend to $0.06 per share, and further reduce our debt by $7 million. We expect strong sales, earnings and cash flow trends to continue.” Buckeye, a leading manufacturer and marketer of specialty fibers and nonwoven materials, is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. The Company currently operates facilities in the United States, Germany, Canada, and Brazil.