International Paper reports Q1 2023 net earnings of $172 million, business segment profits of $306 million

“International Paper operated well in the first quarter [2023], while navigating a challenging and dynamic macro environment,” says Mark Sutton, board chairman and CEO. “We successfully executed our highest maintenance-outage quarter and realized additional benefits from our “Building a Better IP” initiatives and lower input costs. We also returned $319 million to shareowners.

“Looking ahead,” he adds, “we expect the demand environment to improve throughout the year as customer-inventory destocking runs its course. We remain focused on serving our customers’ needs, while optimizing our system to drive out high marginal costs and maximizing value for our stakeholders.”

Industrial Packaging operating profits (losses) in Q1 2023 were $322 million compared with $416 million in Q4 2022. In North America, earnings decreased as lower input costs, primarily for recovered fiber and energy, were more than offset by lower revenue and higher planned maintenance outage expenses. Sequentially, revenue decreased as a result of lower sales prices for corrugated boxes and containerboard offset by some additional volume benefit from four more shipping days. Operating costs were higher in Q1 2023 due to the non-repeat of favorable one-time items for employee benefit costs and medical claims. In EMEA, earnings improved driven by lower energy and containerboard costs.