Suzano Announces Third Quarter 2023 Results

HIGHLIGHTS

• Pulp sales of 2,486 thousand tons (-11% vs. 3Q22).
• Paper sales1 of 331 thousand tons (stable vs. 3Q22).
• Adjusted EBITDA2 and Operating cash generation3 : R$3.7 billion and R$1.9 billion, respectively.
• Adjusted EBITDA2/ton from pulp of R$1,172/ton (-57% vs. 3Q22).
• Adjusted EBITDA2/ton from paper of R$2,366/ton (-16% vs. 3Q22).
• Average net pulp price in export market: US$547/ton (-33% vs. 3Q22).
• Average net paper price1 of R$7,085/ton (+3% vs. 3Q22).
• Pulp cash cost ex-downtime of R$861/ton (-2% vs. 3Q22).
• Leverage of 2.7 times in USD and 2.6 times in BRL.
• Cerrado Project completes 78% of physical progress and 68% of financial progress.

Despite the drop in average net pulp price, the third quarter of 2023 was marked by improved market sentiment, mainly due to the significant growth in demand in China. The evolution of fundamentals sustained a sequence of price increases which, however, are not yet fully reflected in the 3Q23 results. In this context, lower prices combined with practically stable volumes led to the reduction in adjusted EBITDA in this segment. Cash cost of production excluding scheduled maintenance downtime decreased once again, mainly due to lower consumption and lower input prices. The paper business unit posted resilient results in the domestic market; however, the decline in export market prices was the main reason for the decline in EBITDA per ton during the period. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA in the quarter came to R$3.7 billion, while operating cash flow reached R$1.9 billion.

As for financial management, net debt in USD increased slightly to US$11.5 billion, mainly due to the largest investment cycle in the company’s history aimed at generating significant and sustainable value in the long term. Leverage in USD stood at 2.7 times, mainly due to the decrease in Adjusted EBITDA in the last 12 months. The foreign exchange hedging policy continued to play its part, bringing in a positive cash inflow of R$0.7 billion.

Continuing the advances made in its strategy, within the context of the “Being an important player in pulp through solid projects” and “Be best in class in the total pulp cost vision” avenues, the physical progress of Cerrado Project remains as expected, reaching 78%, while financial progress was 68%. The company expects the project to go operational by June 2024, as announced earlier.
details at: https://s201.q4cdn.com/761980458/files/doc_news/2023/10/3Q23/Release-de-Resultados_3T23_EN_vf.pdf