BC Council of Forest Industries comments on mill closures and curtailments

Management Summary from Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jean-Michel Ribiéras: In 2024, we earned $632 million in adjusted EBITDA, a 17% margin, and generated $248 million of free cash flow. We returned $130 million in cash to shareowners, representing 52% of free cash flow, exceeding our 40% commitment. We have $82 million remaining on our $150 million share repurchase authorization from September 2023. Our board of directors also declared a first quarter dividend of $0.45 per share, which we paid Jan. 24th. Our strong cash flow and $60 million received from escrow allowed us to pay down $154 million in debt in 2024, ending the year with $591 million in net debt. Our structural cost reduction program, Project Horizon, made significant progress streamlining manufacturing, supply chain and overhead costs throughout 2024. Before inflation, we exceeded our $110 million year end run rate savings goal by $34 million, achieving $144 million in run rate savings. On Dec. 31, we mutually terminated a supply agreement for uncoated freesheet, bristols and specialty papers from International Paper’s Georgetown, South Carolina, mill.

Verso Corporation announced that Brian D. Cullen will become its Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer effective June 16, 2021. "I am very pleased to have someone of Brian's caliber join Verso's leadership team and serve in this critical role for our company," said President and Chief Executive Officer Randy Nebel. "His operating finance proficiency and experience combined with his strong strategic thinking and leadership skills will be extremely beneficial to Verso as we continue to strengthen our position as a leader in the paper industry." Mr. Cullen has over 20 years of broad financial and strategic leadership experience, with the majority of his career holding executive and senior leadership roles at Fortune 500 companies, including McDonald's Corporation and The Procter & Gamble Co. Prior to joining Verso he served as US Vice President of Finance and Controller for McDonald's Corporation. Mr. Cullen holds a B.B.A. in Finance with accounting concentration from The University of Notre Dame in Indiana.

The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) President and CEO Heidi Brock issued the following statement regarding the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) New Source Review (NSR) project emissions accounting (PEA) rule, which was finalized today. “The EPA recognizes the need for sensible NSR accounting procedures that will provide a clear and concise approach to air permitting under the Clean Air Act. The PEA rule, by allowing increases and decreases in emissions to be counted together, will exclude minor projects from a burdensome and time-consuming permitting process. This NSR rule is part of a broader EPA effort to modernize an antiquated and complicated system and ensure the global competitiveness of American manufacturing. AF&PA commends the EPA’s efforts to advance regulatory process reforms, such as this, to support our industry’s ability to innovate, invest and create American manufacturing jobs.”