A grappler holds four logs, driving beside a pile of roundwood

February 13, 2020   /   ,

Mercer International Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter and Year End Results and Announces Quarterly Cash Dividend of $0.1375

Selected Highlights

  • 2019 Operating EBITDA of $210.4 million and net loss of $9.6 million
  • Fourth quarter pulp segment annual maintenance downtime of 54 days significantly contributed to negative Operating EBITDA* of $34.2 million and a net loss of $72.7 million

NEW YORK, NY, February 13, 2020

Mercer International Inc. (Nasdaq: MERC) today reported fourth quarter 2019 Operating EBITDA decreased to negative $34.2 million from positive $118.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2018 and from $50.8 million in the third quarter of 2019. In the fourth quarter of 2019, net loss was $72.7 million, or $1.11 per share, compared to net income of $45.0 million, or $0.69 per basic share and $0.68 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2018 and net income of $1.2 million, or $0.02 per share in the third quarter of 2019.

In 2019, Operating EBITDA declined to $210.4 million from $364.6 million and the net loss was $9.6 million (or $0.15 per share) compared to net income of $128.6 million (or $1.96 per diluted share) in 2018.

Mr. David M. Gandossi, the Chief Executive Officer, stated: “Our fourth quarter results reflect significant annual maintenance activities in our pulp segment and weakness in the pulp markets. High producer inventories, particularly of hardwood pulp, resulted in pricing pressure on both hardwood and softwood. We believe that pricing for both pulps were bottoming going into 2020 and we expect that improving market conditions will support modest upward pricing pressure during 2020. However, there may be near-term headwinds on pulp prices and demand in China as a result of the current ongoing coronavirus outbreak. In the first quarter of 2020, we have three days of scheduled downtime at one of our pulp mills.

In the current quarter, our wood segment benefitted from lower fibre costs which largely contributed to it
achieving record quarterly operating income of $5.3 million.”

You can view the remainder of the results in greater detail here.

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