Clearwater Paper Reports Third Quarter 2024 Results

Clearwater Paper Corporation (NYSE:CLW), a premier independent supplier of bleached paperboard to North American converters today reported financial results for the third quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2024.

Third Quarter Highlights
With the consummation of the sale of our tissue business on November 1, 2024, all periods presented include our former tissue segment as discontinued operations and the paperboard segment plus corporate expenses as continuing operations. Total operations includes both continuing and discontinued operations.

Net sales from continuing operations of $393 million, up 41 percent from the third quarter of last year primarily due to incremental volume from our Augusta facility
Net sales from total operations of $644 million, up 24 percent from the third quarter of last year
Net loss from continuing operations of $11 million, or 0.64 per diluted share compared to net income from continuing operations of $15 million, or $0.88 per diluted share in the third quarter of last year
Net income from total operations of $6 million, or $0.35 per diluted share compared to $37 million, or $2.17 per diluted share in the third quarter of last year
Adjusted EBITDA from total operations of $64 million compared to $81 million in the third quarter of last year

“We delivered a strong third quarter, even as we dealt with the impact of Hurricane Helene at our Augusta, Georgia and Shelby, North Carolina facilities,” said Arsen Kitch, president and CEO. “We are also pleased that we closed on the sale of our tissue business and are now well positioned to execute on our strategy of building a premier paperboard company that is focused on servicing independent converters in North America.”

New $100 Million Share Repurchase Authorization
Clearwater Paper's Board of Directors has approved a new $100 million share repurchase authorization, allowing the Company to opportunistically repurchase shares in addition to offsetting the dilution from employee share grants. This authorization replaces the Company’s previous authorization. The timing and amount of any repurchases of common stock will be solely at the discretion of the Company and is subject to general business and market conditions, as well as other factors. The authorization permits the Company to make repurchases of its common stock from time to time in open market or privately negotiated transactions, including accelerated share repurchase transactions and the use of Rule 10b5-1 trading plans. The authorization has no expiration date.

Overall Results
For the third quarter of 2024, Clearwater Paper reported net sales from total operations of $644 million compared to $520 million for the third quarter of 2023. Clearwater Paper reported net income from total operations for the third quarter of 2024 of $6 million, or $0.35 per diluted share compared to $37 million, or $2.17 per diluted share in the third quarter of 2023. Adjusted EBITDA from total operations was $64 million compared to third quarter of 2023 of $81 million. The decrease in Adjusted EBITDA from total operations was primarily driven by lower sales prices and the residual impacts of the company's planned major maintenance outage at its Lewiston, Idaho facility offset by higher sales volume due to the inclusion of our Augusta facility.

For the first nine months of 2024, Clearwater Paper reported net sales from total operations of $1.7 billion, a 10 percent increase compared to $1.6 billion for the first nine months of 2023. Clearwater Paper reported a net loss from total operations for the first nine months of 2024 of $3 million, or $0.17 per diluted share, compared to net income from total operations for the first nine months of 2023 of $90 million, or $5.29 per diluted share. Adjusted EBITDA from total operations for the first nine months of 2024 was $160 million, compared to the first nine months of 2023 of $218 million. The decrease in Adjusted EBITDA from total operations was primarily driven by lower sales prices and the impacts of the company's planned major maintenance outage at its Lewiston Idaho facility, partially offset by lower input costs.

Paperboard sales volumes and prices:
Sales volumes were 314,320 tons in the third quarter of 2024, an increase of 67 percent compared to 187,944 tons in the third quarter of 2023. Sales volumes were 774,207 tons in the first nine months of 2024, an increase of 37 percent compared to 563,502 tons in the first nine months of 2023.

Paperboard average net selling price decreased 12 percent to $1,192 per ton for the third quarter of 2024, compared to $1,350 per ton in the third quarter of 2023. Paperboard average net selling price decreased 13 percent to $1,223 per ton for the first nine months of 2024, compared to $1,401 per ton in the first nine months of 2023.

Company Outlook
“While we are currently experiencing challenging SBS industry conditions, we remain confident in the long-term fundamentals of paperboard packaging. We are taking actions to reduce our costs to ensure that we deliver strong cash flows regardless of where we are in the industry cycle. We used proceeds from the sale of our tissue business to de-lever our balance sheet and position ourselves to take advantage of opportunities to grow and diversify our paperboard product portfolio.”

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