Stora Enso Reports Q2 & H1 Results

Stora Enso Interim Review January–June 2012: Operational EBIT at similar level to Q1 2012, lower year-on-year at EUR 141 (EUR 239) million mainly due to lower sales prices.
Cash flow from operations EUR 246 (EUR 207) million and liquidity EUR 1 240 (EUR 996) million, both stronger year-on-year.
Q2/2012 Results (compared with Q2/2011)
Sales at EUR 2 720 million were EUR 97 million lower than a year ago. Operational EBIT at EUR 141 million was EUR 98 million lower than a year ago. This represents an operational EBIT margin of 5.2% (8.5%).
Clearly lower sales prices in local currencies, mainly in paper and pulp grades, decreased operational EBIT by EUR 83 million and slightly lower deliveries and production decreased operational EBIT by EUR 14 million. Paper and board production was curtailed by 7% (6%) and sawnwood production by 6% (3%) to manage inventories.
 CEO Jouko Karvinen:
“The reality, as for most of the past five years since 2007, is that the environment is not going to get any easier. We need to double our own efforts to get through the short-term and long-term challenges. Operationally, every Business Area needs not only to complete the announced restructuring programmes, and the literally hundreds of cost and productivity improvement efforts, but also to add more of them and implement them faster. We also must and will continue to adjust our manufacturing capacity to the market demand, as we have been doing since late in the second quarter. This is crucial not only to maximise our margins with a focused market and product mix, but also to further demonstrate that we can get through the market cycles with continued solid cash generation."

BC Protects More Old Growth Forests

More old growth forest protected in British Columbia:
British Columbia is now protecting an additional 14,750 hectares of old growth forest on the Sunshine Coast.
These old growth management areas were established under the Land Act, following public consultation and discussions with First Nations, forestry companies and local stakeholders.

IP Will Close Kalamazoo

International Paper Co. announces plant to close its Kalamazoo plant; 77 jobs to be lost:
About 77 jobs will be lost when International Paper Co. closes its corrugated container plant in Kalamazoo in mid-September. "Following the merger with Temple-Inland, we have more capacity than our customers need in this area," Scott Dillon, complex general manager, stated in a press release.

Pulp Producer Announces Another Decrease

Canfor Pulp informed customers in the USA today that its northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK) pulp list price will decline to $850/tonne, effective August 1 until further notice, industry sources told RISI.

Black Liquor Tax Credits Still Have Senate Support

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/21/us/politics/in-black-liquor-a-cautionary-tale-for-deficit-reduction.html?ref=politics&pagewanted=print

As a member of the “Gang of Six,” Senator Mike Crapo of Idaho has emerged as something of a hero among advocates of bipartisanship, one of three conservative Republicans working with three Democrats to cut the deficit by closing loopholes that allow businesses and households to avoid paying taxes.

Yet earlier this year, the senator made sure that a $3 billion loophole — protecting “black liquor,” an alcoholic sludge used as fuel in timber mills and factories — remained open in the negotiations over the highway bill that President Obama signed this month. Many budget experts criticize the loophole as a tax dodge because it allows the sludge to qualify for an energy subsidy created to wean the country off imported oil for vehicles, which black liquor does not do.

Sales Tax Battle Continues on Federal Level

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-20/wal-mart-pushes-web-sales-tax-as-washington-clout-grows-retail.html

In its struggle against surging online retailers such as Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has unleashed a weapon long shunned by Sam Walton: lobbying.

On July 24, the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on a bill to let states collect sales tax from out-of-state merchants that sell to their residents. If it is passed, online retailers, which now mostly don’t collect sales tax, will lose a price advantage that has helped them take business from brick-and-mortar stores.

Wal-Mart, which has been boosting political contributions and staffing up its Washington office, is one of the prime movers behind the bill, said Congressman Steve Womack, an Arkansas Republican who authored the proposed legislation.

Gap's Athleta has Agressive Strategy

http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/07/19/v-print/2208372/gaps-athleta-appears-to-stalk.html

Last month Lululemon Athletica opened a store in Durham. Three weeks later Athleta, Gap’s answer to Lululemon, opened in the same mall.

The pattern – Lululemon store opens, Athleta shop pops up nearby – is happening nationwide as Gap mounts the most potent threat so far to the Vancouver-based competitor.

Say Media Raises $27 Million

http://techcrunch.com/2012/07/19/say-media-says-yes-to-27m-will-build-out-publishing-platform-buy-more-assets/

Another milestone for online publishing company SAY Media, just 10 days after it had announced that Time Magazine publisher Kim Kelleher would be coming on board as president in September: today it confirmed that it has raised $27 million in funding, which it will use to make acquisitions and enhance its publishing platform.

Murdoch Resigns from News Corp. Boards

http://www.adweek.com/news/television/rupert-murdoch-resigns-news-corp-boards-142094

Rupert Murdoch resigned from a number of News Corp. boards—including his post as director of News International, the holding company for the newspapers at the center of the U.K. hacking scandal—as the company prepares to divest its publishing and entertainment properties, according to an internal memo cited by Reuters.

Technology Will Help Direct Mail to Prosper

Direct Mail Will Never Die!! Here’s Why:
Provided by: Matt Haskell of Sourcelink
Direct mail is here to stay! Want to know why? Two reasons: technology.
1. Technology used in conjunction with Direct Mail can only serve to make it stronger
2. Technology and compatibility move at different paces

Printing Industry Hall of Fame Announces Inductees

2012 Printing Industry Hall of Fame Inductees Announced: Printing Impressions magazine is pleased to announce its 2012 class of inductees into the Printing Impressions/RIT Printing Industry Hall of Fame. They will be honored at the annual Gold Ink & Hall of Fame Awards Gala on Monday evening, Oct. 8, at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place in Chicago during Graph Expo 2012.
The 27th induction class includes:
• Carl Gerhardt, chairman, Allegra Network, Plymouth, MI
• Michael Graff, president and CEO, Sandy Alexander, Clifton, NJ
• David Harding, president and CEO, HardingPoorman Group, Indianapolis
• Volker Petersen, president and CEO, Brown Printing, Waseca, MN

Johnson & Quin Buys American Mailers

Johnson & Quin Acquires American Mailers to Add High-Volume Mailing Capacity: NILES, IL—July 19, 2012—Johnson & Quin, a national leader in targeted direct marketing services (#204 with $23.7 million in sales on the 2011 Printing Impressions 400 ranking), announced the acquisition of Naperville, IL-based American Mailers, a division of ANET Corp. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Operations will be combined into two Johnson & Quin facilities in Niles, IL.

Xerox Reports Q2 Results

Xerox reports Q2 earnings, sees continued decline in technology revenue: This morning Xerox reported its Q2 financials; similar to Q1, the company saw growth in services revenue and a decline in technology revenue (printers, MFPs, scanners, software, supplies, etc.). Xerox also experienced a decline in “other” revenue, which includes paper sales, wide-format systems, and electronic presentation systems.