Sales for the fourth quarter were $473 million, compared with third quarter 1999 sales of $471 million and last year's fourth quarter sales of $472.3 million. Total shipments for the period were 541,771 tons, compared with 551,443 tons during the third quarter of 1999 and 531,588 tons during the fourth quarter of 1998.
For the year, earnings were $66,076,000, compared with $102.357 million, in 1998. In 1999, sales totaled $1.839 million, compared with prior year sales of $1.989 million. Total shipments for the year were 2,122,090 tons, compared with 2,176,612 tons in 1998.
Gorton M. Evans, president and chief executive officer, and George W. Mead, chairman of the board, said that 1999 was a year of contrasts. First and second quarter performance was hindered by a domestic oversupply of coated and supercalendered printing papers caused by the continued growth in imports of foreign competitors' paper. The result was weakened demand and lower-than-preferred selling prices for the company's papers. Evans and Mead noted that business improved significantly during the third quarter of 1999 and was even better in the fourth quarter. They said the cyclical trend seems to be moving in a promising direction.
Champion International Corp. reported fourth quarter net income of $79 million, before an extraordinary charge of $2 million for the early retirement of debt. This compares to net income of $12 million, before special items, for the fourth quarter of 1998, and net income of $77 million, before an extraordinary charge, for the third quarter of 1999.
For the year, the company reported net income of $237 million before an extraordinary charge of $5 million.
``1999 was a very good year for Champion, and we are especially pleased with the contributions of our employees,'' said Richard E. Olson, chairman and CEO. He continued, ``Our results demonstrate the progress we have made since October, 1997, when we announced our strategy to maximize total shareholder return by focusing on strategic businesses, increasing earnings through a profit-improvement program, and exercising strong financial discipline.'' He added, ``During this past year, the company focused, in particular, on lowering our capital spending and reducing our manufacturing costs in both our paper and wood products operations. Looking ahead to the next several quarters, we are optimistic about the company's earnings potential due to improving markets for pulp and paper, the record low level of capacity additions scheduled over the next few years, and a generally healthy world economy.''
The company's pulp and paper operations in North and South America reported operating income for the year of $288 million compared to $289 million in 1998. Lower average prices offset the improvement in manufacturing costs and shipments in ongoing operations for the year. Fourth quarter income of $130 million compared to $43 million a year ago and $90 million last quarter. The improvement from the year-ago quarter was due to substantially higher prices for uncoated freesheet and kraft papers and for pulp, as well as lower manufacturing costs in the company's ongoing operations. The improvement from the prior quarter was due to higher prices for all of the company's major pulp and paper grades.
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