Cascades Reports Results for the Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2021

Cascades Inc. reports its unaudited financial results for the three-month period and fiscal year ended December 31, 2021.

Q4 2021 Highlights (comparative figures have been restated to reflect discontinued operations2)

• Sales of $1,028 million (compared with $1,030 million in Q3 2021 and $1,030 million in Q4 2020)
• As reported (including specific items)
  • Operating income (loss) of $(90) million (compared with $73 million in Q3 2021 and $104 million in Q4 2020)
  • Operating income (loss) before depreciation and amortization (OIBD) of $(30) million (compared with $136 million in Q3 2021 and $163 million in Q4 2020)
  • Net earnings per common share of $1.04 (compared with $0.32 in Q3 2021 and $0.72 in Q4 2020)
• Adjusted (excluding specific items1)
  • Operating income of $2 million (compared with $44 million in Q3 2021 and $80 million in Q4 2020)
  • OIBD of $62 million (compared with $107 million in Q3 2021 and $139 million in Q4 2020)
  • Net loss per common share of $(0.09) (compared with net loss per common share of $(0.01) in Q3 2021 and net earnings per common share of $0.42 in Q4 2020)

1. This Non-IFRS measures and other financial measures are respectively non-IFRS financial measures and Non-IFRS ratio which are not standardized financial measures under IFRS and therefore might not be comparable to similar financial measures disclosed by other corporations.
2. 2020 and first quarter 2021 consolidated results have been adjusted to reflect retrospective adjustments of discontinued operations.

Mario Plourde, President and CEO, commented, "It was a difficult end to the year, and our disappointing fourth quarter results are a consequence of the escalation in costs and operational disruptions that continued to develop as the quarter progressed. Ongoing challenges from supply chain constraints, reduced labour availability and higher logistics costs related to the pandemic were further exacerbated by rail disruptions caused by flooding in Western Canada in November that significantly impeded logistics across Canada, and the subsequent emergence and rapid escalation of the Omicron variant in December. These factors intensified pressures on costs, impacted production levels in several of our operations, and delayed delivery times of products to customers. Notwithstanding this challenging environment the Specialty Products segment continued to perform well, driven by product innovation and strategic commercial decisions.

"In the context of this challenging business environment, we continued to take concrete steps to unlock value. The sale of our 57.6% controlling equity position in Reno de Medici S.p.A. generated net proceeds of $450 million, which were used in part to redeem Senior unsecured notes. In addition to this, we continued to return capital to shareholders through the 50% dividend increase in the second quarter, and ongoing share buy-back program that resulted in 1.65 million shares being repurchased in the third quarter."

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