International Paper Co. (IP) reported first quarter 2013 net earnings attributable to common shareholders totaling $318 million or $0.71 per share, up from $188 million or $0.43 per share in the first quarter of 2012.
Earnings from continuing operations increased to $289 million from $187 million last year.Earnings from continuing operations per share was $0.65, up from $0.42 in the prior year.
Special items in the first quarter of 2013 included pre-tax charges of $59 million for restructuring and other charges and pre-tax charges of $12 million for integration costs related to the Temple-Inland acquisition. Also included are pre-tax interest income of $6 million and a tax benefit of $93 million both associated with the closing of a U.S. federal income tax audit and a net tax expense of $2 million related to internal restructurings. Restructuring and other charges included pre-tax charges of $44 million for costs related to the permanent shutdown of a paper machine at our Augusta, Georgia mill, pre-tax charges of $6 million for debt extinguishment costs, pre-tax charges of $7 million for costs associated with the restructuring of our xpedx operations and pre-tax charges of $2 million for other items.
Operating Earnings were $292 million or $0.65 per share, compared with $272 million or $0.63 per share in the first quarter of 2012.
Quarterly net sales were $7.1 billion compared with $6.7 billion in the first quarter of 2012.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.74 per share on revenues of $7.05 billion for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com