American Forest & Paper Association Releases February 2021 Packaging Papers Monthly Report

Highlights - Six Months Ended December 31, 2022 • Net sales of $7,354 million, up 6%; • GAAP Net income of $691 million, up 62%; GAAP diluted earnings per share (EPS) of 46.1 cps, up 65%; • Increasing cash returns to shareholders: quarterly dividend of 12.25 cents per share; and up to $500 million of share repurchases expected in fiscal 2023, including an additional $100 million announced today; and • Fiscal 2023 outlook: Maintaining adjusted EPS and Free Cash Flow ranges at 77-81 cps and $1-1.1 billion, respectively.

The largest investment of the forest industry in Finland – the new Kemi bioproduct mill and the paperboard mill expansion – came into operation as planned on Wednesday 20 September 2023. The operations will start department by department. Pulp deliveries from the new mill to customers will begin in October 2023. “Metsä Group’s products replace fossil materials in people’s daily lives. Pulp and paperboard are used as raw materials for numerous consumer goods, and we are able to produce them in Kemi with considerably lower emissions. Finland needs sustainable investment that creates employment, income and a strong belief in the future,” says Ilkka Hämälä, President and CEO of Metsä Group. The Kemi bioproduct mill produces 1.5 million tonnes of softwood and hardwood pulp annually. It uses zero fossil fuels and will be completely waste-free by 2030.

Net sales for the second quarter of 2022 were a record $1.91 billion, compared with last year's second quarter sales of $1.38 billion. GAAP net income attributable to Sonoco in the second quarter of 2022 was $131.7 million, or $1.33 per diluted share, compared with a loss of $(334.1) million, or $(3.34) per diluted share, in the second quarter of 2021. GAAP gross profit was $387.0 million in the second quarter of 2022 compared to $262.7 million in the same period of 2021. Quarterly gross profit as a percentage of sales was approximately 20 percent compared to approximately 19 percent in the second quarter of 2021.