International Paper’s Rating Falls to Sector Perform
International Paper is trading at 4.9 x the trend EBITDA forecast of $4.0B, however on the horizon are rising energy, chemical and fibre costs coupled with a lack of significant price increases to offset these increased costs.
Quarter 4 2011 results were ahead of expectations with a reported normalised EPS of $0.66 and a normalised EBITDA of $922MM.
Industrial Packaging grew from the previous quarter – adjusted operating profit was $316MM (up 5% from the previous quarter.)
Consumer packaging was down - adjusted operating profit was $62MM (down 40% from the previous quarter.)
Printing Papers fell – adjusted operating profit was $190MM (down 20% from the previous quarter.)
IP’s balance sheet remained strong with $182MM in free cash flow and a net-debt-to-total-capitalization at the end of Q4 of 46% with $4.0B of cash on hand.
Posted Date: 09th Feb 2012