Q3 2022 Highlights
*Sales of $1,174 million (compared with $1,119 million in Q2 2022 and $1,030 million in Q3 2021)
**As reported (including specific items)
*Operating income of $25 million (compared with $32 million in Q2 2022 and $73 million in Q3 2021)
*Operating income before depreciation and amortization (OIBD) of $92 million (compared with $95 million in Q2 2022 and $136 million in Q3 2021)
*Net loss per common share of $(0.02) (compared with net earnings per common share of $0.10 in Q2 2022 and net earnings per common share of $0.32 in Q3 2021)
*Adjusted (excluding specific items1)
-Operating income of $44 million (compared with $28 million in Q2 2022 and $44 million in Q3 2021)
-Operating income before depreciation and amortization (OIBD) of $111 million (compared with $91 million in Q2 2022 and $107 million in Q3 2021)
-Net earnings per common share of $0.20 (compared with net earnings per common share of $0.10 in Q2 2022 and a net loss per common share of ($0.01) in Q3 2021)
*Net debt1 of $2,011 million as of September 30, 2022 (compared with $1,712 million as of June 30, 2022). Net debt to adjusted OIBD ratio1 of 6.2x, up from 5.4x as of June 30, 2022.
*Total capital expenditures, net of disposals, of $121 million in Q3 2022 and $333 million in the first nine months of 2022. Forecasted 2022 net capital expenditures of $450 – $470 million, including $310 – $330 million for the Bear Island containerboard conversion project in Virginia, USA.
*On October 19, 2022, the Corporation announced that it had successfully amended its existing credit facility to reinforce its financial flexibility. The updated agreement increased the authorized term loan to US$260 million from US$160 million while extending the maturity by two years to December 2027. Concurrently, the term of the Corporation’s revolving facility was extended by one year to July 2026.
Mario Plourde, President and CEO, commented: “Our third quarter performance was in line with expectations notwithstanding the fact that our Tissue segment continued to face unprecedented cost inflation and reduced productivity due to labour scarcity and inefficiencies. Company-wide, improvements in volume, pricing and sales mix mitigated continued cost headwinds on a sequential and year-over-year basis. Importantly, the profitability initiatives that have been deployed throughout our Tissue business absorbed this segment’s higher costs during the quarter. While these measures trailed the cadence of cost headwinds in the first nine months of the year, we are encouraged with how they are now tracking, and continue to expect additional benefits going forward.
The Bear Island project advanced well during the quarter and we are preparing the commissioning of certain key equipment. As we pointed to in our second quarter release, supply chain constraints in 2022 slowed delivery of some materials which delayed certain construction milestones. These conditions continued in the third quarter and as a result start-up of the facility will occur in the first quarter of 2023. The capital investments for this project totaled $83 million in the third quarter and $228 million year-to-date. These elevated investment levels underline the environment of high cost inflation, and have resulted in an important increase in our leverage, a trend we expect to reverse in 2023 with improved business performance and the contribution from this facility following its start-up. A prominent FX impact and higher working capital requirements, driven by inflation, were similarly important factors in the increase in our debt levels in the third quarter.”
details at: https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/cascades-reports-results-for-the-third-quarter-of-2022-801519093.html