International Paper Q2 Adj. Profit Tops View, But Revenues Miss

(RTTNews) - Paper and packaging company International Paper Co. (IP) reported Tuesday a profit for the second quarter that declined from last year, hurt by significant charges and a revenue decline. However, operating earnings per share topped analysts' expectations, while quarterly sales missed their estimates.

"International Paper delivered strong results with increased volume and expanded margins in the face of relatively high input costs," Chairman and CEO John Faraci said in a statement.

The Memphis, Tennessee-based company reported net earnings attributable to common shareholders of $161 million or $0.37 per share for the second quarter, lower than $259 million or $0.57 per share in the prior-year quarter.

Earnings from continuing operations declined to $164 million or $0.38 per share from $235 million or $0.52 per share last year.

The results for the latest quarter primarily include net charges of $0.57 per share, while the year-ago quarter included net charges of $0.12 per share.

Excluding items, operating earnings for the quarter was $409 million or $0.95 per share, compared to $288 million or $0.64 per share in the year-ago quarter.

On average, 16 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.83 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net sales for the quarter declined to $7.21 billion from $7.34 billion in the same quarter last year, and missed fourteen Wall Street analysts' consensus estimate of $7.35 billion.

Industrial packaging revenues grew to $3.80 billion from $3.78 billion, while printing papers revenues declined to $1.42 billion from $1.54 billion in the prior-year quarter.

Consumer packaging revenues edged down to $843 million from $855 million, and revenues for xpedx, the North American distribution business, decreased to $1.33 billion from $1.41 billion in the year-ago quarter.

"As we move into the second half of the year, the company is well positioned to improve earnings and free cash flow generation for the balance of 2014, despite a challenging global environment," Faraci added.

In Tuesday's regular trading session, IP is currently trading at $49.46, down $0.51 or 1.02% on a volume of 1.29 million shares.