Verso Paper recently reported financial results for the third quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2011.
Verso’s net sales for the third quarter of 2011 increased $23.9 million, or 5.5%, compared to the third quarter of 2010, reflecting an 8.0% increase in the average sales price for all of our products while sales volume decreased 2.3% compared to last year’s third quarter. Verso’s gross margin was 17.8% for the third quarter of 2011 compared to 14.1% for the same period in 2010.
"Our third quarter results improved significantly from the third quarter of 2010. In spite of some demand challenges with specific product categories and the cost pressures of raw materials, Verso recognized a solid quarter. Pricing improved significantly as compared to the prior-year period and slightly on a sequential quarter basis. Our operations, as we projected in our second quarter earnings call, continued to improve in the area of material usage,” said Mike Jackson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Verso.
“Our major energy projects continue to advance on our projected timeline, and we expect to start up our energy project at our Quinnesec mill in late November, which will continue to improve our cost position at our largest freesheet facility.
“As many of you know, on October 11, 2011, we announced some capacity closures that are in the best interest of our long-term performance and support our strategy of both lowering our costs and balancing supply with demand.
“Finally, we continue to recognize a correlation between operational performance and safety results. During the quarter, our total incident rate was 0.8, which is a world-class performance. I wish to recognize all of our employees who continue to contribute to this outstanding achievement.”
