Southern Africa

Code
SA
Guidance and oversight of sustainability is embedded in our corporate structure.

A paperboard (SBB) with full coated top- and uncoated reverse side.

“The trend of improving performance continued in the quarter. Demand for our products remained good and prices increased gradually. Pulp prices remained high, benefiting our Southern African and North American businesses, which performed strongly.
Sappi announced today that it priced its upsized bond offering to raise approximately US$705 million equivalent of new senior secured notes.
Sappi Limited, the global pulp and paper group, today announced that Mark Thompson, the current Chief Financial Officer, will retire from Sappi in August 2012 having reached the mandatory retirement age of 60.
“Following a year in which various actions and strategies were initiated, primarily involving extensive restructuring charges and asset impairments, the group achieved a profit for the period of US$45 million (Q1 2011 US$37 million) and EPS of 9 US cents (Q1 2011 7 US cents) in the first quarter of the 2012 financial year.
Operating profit excluding special items for the quarter (US$127 million) more than doubled compared to a year earlier (US$54 million) and on a per week basis was at the same level as our first financial quarter ended December 2010
Commenting on the results, Sappi Chief Executive Officer Ralph Boëttger said: “The improving trend in operating performance continued in the quarter, with the European and North American businesses in particular showing good improvement. The group achieved a net profit for the period of US$58 million...
Operating profit for the quarter was impacted as expected by planned annual maintenance shuts at a number of our major pulp mills and seasonal factors. In addition, weaker than expected demand for coated woodfree paper in Europe resulting from continuing uncertainty in economic conditions unfavourably affected operating profit
As you are aware, Sappi’s business strategy is built on four pillars, namely fixing the underperforming businesses; maintaining the good performance of the other businesses; investing in areas of high growth; as well as careful balance sheet, debt and cash-flow management.

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