Sappi Chief Executive Officer Steve Binnie, commenting on the group’s performance, said: “Our third quarter operating performance was in line with previous guidance with earnings (EBITDA ex special items) flat at US$155 million compared to a year ago. The third quarter is seasonally and historically our weakest quarter due to the slow-down in business activity during the Northern Hemisphere summer holiday period and Sappi’s choice to use this quarter to undertake major annual maintenance shuts. A strong performance by our European operations was offset by a number of once-off operational and production issues in our South African and North American businesses.”