Mercer International Inc. has reported a 14.78 percent fall in profit for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2016. The company has earned $18.49 million, or $0.28 a share in the quarter, compared with $21.70 million, or $0.33 a share for the same period last year. Revenue during the quarter dropped 6.78 percent to $221.69 million from $237.83 million in the previous year period. Gross margin for the quarter expanded 133 basis points over the previous year period to 31.63 percent. Total expenses were 82.39 percent of quarterly revenues, up from 81.43 percent for the same period last year. That has resulted in a contraction of 96 basis points in operating margin to 17.61 percent.
Operating income for the quarter was $39.04 million, compared with $44.17 million in the previous year period.
Mr. David M. Gandossi, the chief executive officer stated "During the current quarter, we moved forward high return projects to improve our operational efficiencies, including projects that improve our operational reliability and de-bottleneck certain processes. We also continued to focus on certain high value fiber logistics projects in Germany which have further reduced our fiber costs and exposure to fiber supply risks. In the current quarter, we had 12 days (approximately 21,600 ADMTs) of annual maintenance downtime at our Stendal mill which included approximately $9.6 million in direct costs, compared to four days in the comparative quarter of 2015. Overall in 2016, we had 43 days (approximately 61,400 ADMTs) of annual maintenance downtime, which included approximately $29.8 million in direct costs, compared to 40 days in 2015. Many of our competitors who report their financial results using International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) capitalize their direct costs of annual maintenance downtime."
Operating cash flow declines
Mercer International Inc. has generated cash of $140.78 million from operating activities during the year, down 11.58 percent or $18.44 million, when compared with the last year. The company has spent $44.30 million cash to meet investing activities during the year as against cash outgo of $49.82 million in the last year.
The company has spent $62.38 million cash to carry out financing activities during the year as against cash outgo of $56.66 million in the last year period.
Cash and cash equivalents stood at $136.57 million as on Dec. 31, 2016, up 37.08 percent or $36.94 million from $99.63 million on Dec. 31, 2015.
Working capital increases
Mercer International Inc. has recorded an increase in the working capital over the last year. It stood at $308.68 million as at Dec. 31, 2016, up 8.54 percent or $24.29 million from $284.39 million on Dec. 31, 2015. Current ratio was at 4.31 as on Dec. 31, 2016, up from 3.72 on Dec. 31, 2015.
Debt comes down marginally
Mercer International Inc. has recorded a decline in total debt over the last one year. It stood at $617.54 million as on Dec. 31, 2016, down 3.21 percent or $20.50 million from $638.04 million on Dec. 31, 2015. Mercer International has recorded a decline in long-term debt over the last one year. It stood at $617.54 million as on Dec. 31, 2016, down 3.21 percent or $20.50 million from $638.04 million on Dec. 31, 2015. Total debt was 53.30 percent of total assets as on Dec. 31, 2016, compared with 53.94 percent on Dec. 31, 2015. Debt to equity ratio was at 1.63 as on Dec. 31, 2016, down from 1.67 as on Dec. 31, 2015. Interest coverage ratio deteriorated to 3.04 for the quarter from 3.33 for the same period last year. Disclaimer: Please note that this is an auto-generated article. IRIS does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information. IRIS especially states that it has no financial liability whatsoever to any user on account of the use of information provided on its website. For queries contact: editor@irisindia.net
