Business
Mercer International Inc. Reports Second Quarter and First Half 2022 Results and Announces Quarterly Cash Dividend of $0.075
Selected Highlights Second quarter net income of $71.4 million and Operating EBITDA* of $145.1 millionRecord quarterly wood products operating income and
About this update from Mercer International Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"Selected Highlights Second quarter net income of $71.4 million and Operating EBITDA* of $145.1 millionRecord quarterly wood products operating income and energy revenues NEW YORK, July 28, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mercer International Inc. (Nasdaq: MERC) today reported second quarter 2022 Operating EBITDA increased to a $145.1 million from $83.8 million in the second quarter of 2021 and decreased from $154.5 million in the first quarter of 2022. In the second quarter of 2022, net income was $71.4 million (or $1.08 per basic share and $1.07 per diluted share) compared to $21.4 million (or $0.32 per share) in the second quarter of 2021 and net income of $88.9 million (or $1.35 per basic share and $1.34 per diluted share) in the first quarter of 2022. In the first half of 2022, Operating EBITDA increased by 81% to $299.5 million from $165.8 million in the same period of 2021. In the first half of 2022, net income was $160.3 million (or $2.43 per basic share and $2.41 per diluted share) compared to $27.3 million (or $0.41 per share) in the same period of 2021. Mr. Juan Carlos Bueno, the Chief Executive Officer, stated: “Our strong second quarter operating results were driven by increased pulp and lumber pricing, continued strong energy pricing and our Stendal mill’s reversal of it’s wastewater fee accrual. These positive effects were offset by higher planned maintenance costs, higher costs for key inputs including fiber, energy and chemicals, and lower pulp sales volumes. We continue to see cost inflation for certain inputs, including energy costs. However, we see our surplus energy sales as a strong hedge against higher energy prices and we are focused on developing strategies to manage the cost of our key inputs. When comparing our second quarter pulp results to the first quarter, our second quarter was negatively impacted by higher planned maintenance costs, lower pulp sales volumes and higher per unit fiber costs. During the quarter our mills were down for planned maintenance a total of 43 days compared to none in the first quarter and our Celgar mill was down an additional six days due to a slower than plan startup. As expected, our fiber costs were up quarter over quarter, but we are currently expecting that these costs will be flat in the third quarter with a modest increase in Germany and a modest decrease in Canada. In July...