Mercer International Inc. Reports Strong 2018 Third Quarter Results and Announces Quarterly Cash Dividend of $0.125

Selected Highlights

• Third quarter net income of $41.2 million ($0.63 per share) and Operating EBITDA* of $86.7 million
• Stable pulp price realizations in the quarter
• Completed majority of 2018 annual pulp mill maintenance and capital spending

NEW YORK, Oct. 25, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mercer International Inc. (Nasdaq: MERC) today reported strong results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2018 due to higher pulp sales realizations. Operating EBITDA in the current quarter was $86.7 million compared to $64.3 million in the third quarter of 2017 and $60.5 million in the second quarter of 2018.

For the third quarter of 2018, net income was $41.2 million, or $0.63 per share, compared to net income of $21.1 million, or $0.33 per basic and $0.32 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2017 and $16.8 million, or $0.26 per share, in the prior quarter of 2018.

Mr. David M. Gandossi, the Chief Executive Officer, stated: "Our agreements to acquire Daishowa-Marubeni International Ltd. and the Santanol sandalwood business reflect our disciplined approach to acquisitions and capital allocation. Both advance our long-term value creation strategy to deliver sustainable profitable growth. These businesses leverage our core competencies and complement the world-class assets that comprise Mercer’s platform for growth.

Our third quarter performance reflected modestly higher average pulp prices and the absence of the scheduled downtime we took in the second quarter to implement productivity upgrades at Celgar. While the ramp-up of this new equipment negatively affected production early in the third quarter, the mill is now meeting our performance objectives. We also took significant downtime in our lumber business in the third quarter, completing important upgrades to our large saw line and installing a new auto-grader in the existing planer mill. These capital investments have increased production, optimized lumber grading and reflect our commitment to continuous improvements in our plant, equipment and operations.

Global pulp markets remained steady throughout the quarter, while our third quarter lumber realizations were negatively impacted by weaker demand in the U.S. market, where approximately 25% of our lumber is sold.”

                                  
*Operating EBITDA is not a measure of financial performance under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States ("GAAP") and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. See page 6 of the financial tables included in this press release for a reconciliation of net income to Operating EBITDA.

Financial Highlights

Consolidated: Stable pulp prices and a focus on continuous improvement

                               
(1)  Adjusted as a result of our adoption of Accounting Standards Update 2017-07, Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Post-Retirement Benefit Cost, in the current year. See Note 1 to our Interim Consolidated Financial Statements.
(2)  Redemption of 7.75% senior notes due 2022.
(3)  Redemption of 7.00% senior notes due 2019.

In the third quarter of 2018 our operating income increased to $63.3 million, or by approximately 69% from $37.5 million in the prior quarter of 2018, and approximately 52% from $41.7 million in the same quarter of the prior year. The increase in the current quarter over the prior quarter is primarily due to lower maintenance costs at our pulp mills and higher pulp sales realizations. The increase in the current quarter over the same quarter of the prior year is primarily due to higher pulp and lumber sales realizations partially offset by lower pulp and energy sales volumes and higher maintenance and per unit fiber costs in the current quarter.

In the nine months ended September 30, 2018, operating income increased to $176.9 million or by 74% from $101.9 million in the same period of 2017 as higher pulp and lumber sales realizations more than offset lower pulp and energy sales volumes, higher maintenance and per unit fiber costs and the negative impact of a weaker dollar on our euro denominated costs and expenses.

Segment Results

Pulp: Stable pulp realizations and significant turbine maintenance complete

In the third quarter of 2018 pulp segment operating income increased by approximately 68% to $68.8 million from $41.0 million in the same quarter of 2017. In the current quarter our pulp realized sales price increased by approximately 34% to $852 per ADMT from $638 per ADMT in the same quarter of the prior year as a result of steady demand. Pulp sales volumes decreased by approximately 17% to 319,850 ADMTs in the current quarter from 383,795 ADMTs in the same quarter of the prior year primarily due to lower production and the timing of shipments to China. Our maintenance program was larger in the current quarter which reduced our energy and pulp sales volumes and increased our costs. Included in this quarter’s maintenance was the completion of the final steps of the turbine revision work at each of our Stendal and Celgar mills which we began in Q2. We estimate that planned annual maintenance downtime at our Rosenthal mill in the current quarter adversely impacted our operating income by approximately $10.8 million, and our turbine maintenance this quarter resulted in foregone energy revenue of approximately $5.9 million. Per unit fiber costs increased by approximately 15% in the current quarter from the same quarter of 2017 primarily as a result of strong demand for imported wood from Scandinavian pulp mills and in our Celgar mill’s fiber basket, a decrease in pulp log availability and demand from coastal pulp mills.     

Wood Products: Continuous improvements in equipment and operations

In the third quarter of 2018 our wood products segment had an operating loss of $1.8 million compared to operating income of $3.0 million in the same quarter of 2017. In the current quarter we took planned downtime to upgrade our large saw line and to install an auto-grader in the existing planer mill which reduced our production and energy sales and increased our costs.  In the current quarter, per unit fiber costs increased by approximately 4% from the same quarter of 2017 primarily as a result of strong fiber demand.  Average lumber sales realizations increased by approximately 9% to $409 per Mfbm in the third quarter of 2018 from approximately $375 per Mfbm in the same quarter of 2017 primarily due to increased sales to the U.S. where we realized higher sale prices.

Outlook

We continue to expect the NBSK pulp market to remain balanced through the fourth quarter due to continued steady demand growth and expected supply limitations. At the end of September world producer inventories are about 33 days' supply. We currently expect fourth quarter lumber pricing in Europe and Japan to remain stable and we feel U.S. prices are near their floor.  

In the fourth quarter we will also be focused on closing the Daishowa-Marubeni International Ltd. acquisition and beginning the process of integrating it into Mercer to ensure we maximize our identified synergies. We look forward to working with our new employees as well as our new government and various community stakeholders.

Quarterly Dividend

A quarterly dividend of $0.125 per share will be paid on December 20, 2018 to all shareholders of record on December 13, 2018. Future dividends will be subject to Board approval and may be adjusted as business and industry conditions warrant.

Earnings Release Call

In conjunction with this release, Mercer International Inc. will host a conference call, which will be simultaneously broadcast live over the Internet. Management will host the call, which is scheduled for October 26, 2018 at 10:00 AM (Eastern Daylight Time). Listeners can access the conference call live and archived for 30 days over the Internet at https://edge.media-server.com/m6/p/firrbdse or through a link on the company's home page at http://www.mercerint.com. Please allow 15 minutes prior to the call to visit the site and download and install any necessary audio software.

Mercer International Inc. is a global forest products company with operations in Germany and Canada with consolidated annual production capacity of 1.5 million tonnes of NBSK pulp and 550 million board feet of lumber. To obtain further information on the company, please visit its web site at http://www.mercerint.com.

The preceding includes forward looking statements which involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties which may cause our actual results in future periods to differ materially from forecasted results. Words such as "expects", "anticipates", "projects", "intends", "designed", "will", "believes", "estimates", "may", "could" and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Among those factors which could cause actual results to differ materially are the following: the highly cyclical nature of our business, raw material costs, our level of indebtedness, competition, foreign exchange and interest rate fluctuations, our use of derivatives, expenditures for capital projects, environmental regulation and compliance, disruptions to our production, market conditions and other risk factors listed from time to time in our SEC reports.

APPROVED BY:

Jimmy S.H. Lee
Executive Chairman
(604) 684-1099

David M. Gandossi
Chief Executive Officer
(604) 684-1099

-FINANCIAL TABLES FOLLOW-

Summary Financial Highlights

                                
(1)  Adjusted as a result of our adoption of Accounting Standards Update 2017-07, Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Post-Retirement Benefit Cost, in the current year. See Note 1 to our Interim Consolidated Financial Statements.
(2)  Redemption of 7.75% senior notes due 2022.
(3)  Redemption of 7.00% senior notes due 2019.

Summary Operating Highlights

                           
(1)  Source: RISI pricing report.
(2)  Sales realizations after customer discounts, rebates and other selling concessions. Incorporates the effect of pulp price variations occurring between the order and shipment dates.
(3)  Average Federal Reserve Bank of New York Noon Buying Rates over the reporting period.

MERCER INTERNATIONAL INC.
INTERIM CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(Unaudited)
(In thousands, except per share data)

MERCER INTERNATIONAL INC.
INTERIM CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(Unaudited)
(In thousands, except share and per share data)

MERCER INTERNATIONAL INC.
INTERIM CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(Unaudited)
(In thousands)

MERCER INTERNATIONAL INC.

COMPUTATION OF OPERATING EBITDA
(Unaudited)
(In thousands)

Operating EBITDA is defined as operating income plus depreciation and amortization and non-recurring capital asset impairment charges. Management uses Operating EBITDA as a benchmark measurement of its own operating results, and as a benchmark relative to its competitors. Management considers it to be a meaningful supplement to operating income as a performance measure primarily because depreciation expense and non-recurring capital asset impairment charges are not an actual cash cost, and depreciation expense varies widely from company to company in a manner that management considers largely independent of the underlying cost efficiency of our operating facilities. In addition, we believe Operating EBITDA is commonly used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties to evaluate our financial performance.

Operating EBITDA does not reflect the impact of a number of items that affect our net income, including financing costs and the effect of derivative instruments. Operating EBITDA is not a measure of financial performance under GAAP, and should not be considered as an alternative to net income or income from operations as a measure of performance, nor as an alternative to net cash from operating activities as a measure of liquidity. The following tables set forth the net income to Operating EBITDA:

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