Jan 28, 2010. /Lesprom Network/. Tembec has reported a net loss of $9 million in its latest quarter on consolidated sales of $412 million. Sales were down this quarter - from $511 million in the comparable period of the prior year to $411 million, as ForestTalk reported. Earnings before non-recurring items, interest, income taxes, depreciation, amortization and other non-operating expenses (EBITDA) was $4 million for the three-month period ended December 26, 2009, as compared to EBITDA of $6 million a year ago and negative EBITDA of $9 million in the prior quarter. Concerning liquidity, Tembec had net cash of $80 million plus unused operating lines of $49 million. In response to the challenging conditions facing the forest products industry, Tembec has developed a focused list of initiatives that should generate approximately $100 million of incremental liquidity. As of the date of this report, $29 million has been achieved. While the December quarterly operating results were an improvement over September, they remained unsatisfactory. The strengthening Canadian dollar and weak newsprint and lumber markets combined to negatively impact financial performance. In response, Tembec continued with selective production curtailments to manage and reduce inventories. Looking ahead, lumber markets will remain challenging, but we expect some improvement over 2009. Pulp markets are improving with continued production curtailments and good demand from China providing the impetus. While newsprint prices increased in the December quarter, the fundamentals of this market remain poor. The segment will continue to be under pressure as producers curtail production in the wake of continuously declining demand. The economy and general business conditions have slowly improved and the trend is expected to continue. However, the magnitude of the decline experienced in 2009 will require several more quarters before we see a more robust economic recovery. Given this and the weakness of the US dollar and certain product prices, Tembec has placed a major emphasis on activities to maintain and enhance liquidity. A number of initiatives have been launched with the target to raise a further $71 million over the next 12 months. Certain additional initiatives are also under evaluation at this time. Tembec is a large, diversified and integrated forest products company which stands as the global leader in sustainable forest management practices.