Monday, August 6, 2012
Great Northern Starts Second PM
Price Fixing Lawsuit Revived
US court revives Stora Enso paper price-fixing case:
A federal appeals court in New York revived on Monday an antitrust lawsuit in which purchasers accused a unit of Finland's Stora Enso Oyj of conspiring to fix prices of coated paper used in magazines. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said a lower court erred in dismissing the case against Stora Enso North America Corp, because a jury could reasonably find that it entered an unlawful agreement with Finland's UPM-Kymmene Oyj to raise the price of so-called "publication paper."
A federal appeals court in New York revived on Monday an antitrust lawsuit in which purchasers accused a unit of Finland's Stora Enso Oyj of conspiring to fix prices of coated paper used in magazines. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said a lower court erred in dismissing the case against Stora Enso North America Corp, because a jury could reasonably find that it entered an unlawful agreement with Finland's UPM-Kymmene Oyj to raise the price of so-called "publication paper."
Irving vs. New Brunswick Commission
J.D. Irving vs. New Brunswick Forest Products Commission:
The New Brunswick Forest Products Commission ruled that J.D. Irving must buy wood through the marketing boards. J.D. Irving prefers to negotiate privately with individual woodlot owners, picking and choosing which buyers to do business with. The company wants to enter into a signed contractual agreement with the woodlot owners they deal with. As a protest to the ruling, J.D. Irving has suspended deliveries of pulpwood from private woodlot owners that they do not have a signed contract with.
The New Brunswick Forest Products Commission ruled that J.D. Irving must buy wood through the marketing boards. J.D. Irving prefers to negotiate privately with individual woodlot owners, picking and choosing which buyers to do business with. The company wants to enter into a signed contractual agreement with the woodlot owners they deal with. As a protest to the ruling, J.D. Irving has suspended deliveries of pulpwood from private woodlot owners that they do not have a signed contract with.
CQ Roll Call Combines Brands into One
CQ Roll Call to fold brands into single print publication: The Economist Group's CQ Roll Call, which publishes several media products that cover Congress, is consolidating all its brands into one daily print publication. CQ Roll Call's portfolio includes CQ Today, CQ Weekly, Roll Call and TranscriptsWire, a database of congressional transcripts.
Open Sky Media Buys Gulfshore Media
Open Sky Media Buys Gulfshore Media Properties:
Open Sky Media, a portfolio company of Chicago-based private equity firm Hadley Capital, is expanding its network of regional magazines with acquisition of several properties from Gulfshore Media LLC. Terms of the deal were not released.
Open Sky Media, a portfolio company of Chicago-based private equity firm Hadley Capital, is expanding its network of regional magazines with acquisition of several properties from Gulfshore Media LLC. Terms of the deal were not released.
Reader's Digest Makes Exec Change
Reader’s Digest Association announced last
week as Dan Lagani, the head of its North American operations, has left the company.
Chief Executive Robert Guth will take over
direct responsibility for the flagship magazine, according to an e-mail sent to
employees.
Quad/Graphics Announces Changes
Quad/Graphics to Lay Off 50 to 60 People by End of Year: Quad/Graphics confirmed today it will cut between 50 and 60 jobs at the Kerper Boulevard plant in Dubuque (IA) by the end of the year. The company also cut 24 jobs at the Dubuque plant in May and said it was “looking at ways to maximize its its efficiency and competitive platform,” according to Claire Ho, director of corporate communications.
Q1 Global Ad Spending Up
Nielsen: Ad spending worldwide on the rise: According to Nielsen's “Global AdView Pulse,” worldwide ad expenditures were up 3.1% overall in the first quarter compared with the same period last year.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Verso Announces Permanent Closure of Sartell
Verso Paper Corp. Announces Permanent Shutdown of Sartell Mill: Verso Paper Corp. today announced that after conducting a comprehensive assessment, Verso has made the difficult decision not to reopen its paper mill in Sartell, Minnesota.
The permanent closure of the Sartell Mill will reduce Verso's annual coated mechanical capacity by 180,000 tons and will eliminate approximately 35,000 tons of annual supercalendered paper capacity.
The permanent closure of the Sartell Mill will reduce Verso's annual coated mechanical capacity by 180,000 tons and will eliminate approximately 35,000 tons of annual supercalendered paper capacity.
Verso to be Billed by Public Safety Agencies
Public
safety agencies that responded to the Verso paper mill on May 28 following a
fatal fire have listed expenses that will mean a $350,000 bill to the company
for reimbursement.
News on Port Hawkesbury Sale
A claim that electricity customers will pay
an extra $7 million a year to operate a new biomass plant because a Cape Breton
paper mill needs the steam is wrong, says the mill’s would-be owner.
Pacific West Commercial Corp. called the
figure, included in a regulatory filing last week by the Avon Group of
companies, an “erroneous assertion.”
The Supreme Court of Nova Scotia approved a
plan Wednesday that would see 11 municipalities paid about $3 million in
outstanding property taxes if the sale of the idle NewPage Port Hawkesbury
paper mill is approved.
Sappi Reports Q3 2012 Results
Operating
profit excluding special items for the quarter was in line with guidance and
similar to that achieved in the corresponding quarter in the prior year.
Sales
for the quarter was US$1.5 billion, a decrease of 14% in US Dollar terms compared
to the equivalent quarter a year ago primarily due to a stronger US Dollar
which impacted the translation of the European and South African sales, and 7%
lower sales volumes in Europe.
Norske Skog Reports Q2 Results
Norske Skog, Second Quarter 2012: Lower Debt and Stable Margins: (Norway) Higher capital utilisation and lower costs strengthen Norske Skog's gross operating earnings in the second quarter compared with the same quarter last year. Gross operating earnings in the second quarter were NOK 393 million, up from NOK 248 million in the same period last year, mainly due to lower costs and better capacity utilisation.
City & Regional Magazines Centered on Print
The 2012 City and Regional Magazine Survey: While consumer magazines across the industry wrestle with their mobile and digital strategies, the city and regional sector continues to focus on its print-centric strategies, largely maintaining modest digital operations.
June Commercial Printing Shipments Up
June 2012 US Commercial Printing Shipments Up +$139 Million Compared to 2011 (Economics & Research Center):
The US Commerce Department report of US commercial printing shipments for June 2012 was $6.85 billion, up +$139 million compared to last year (+2.1%). On an inflation-adjusted basis, shipments were up +$27 million (+0.4%).
The US Commerce Department report of US commercial printing shipments for June 2012 was $6.85 billion, up +$139 million compared to last year (+2.1%). On an inflation-adjusted basis, shipments were up +$27 million (+0.4%).
Time Names Editor, Southern Living
Time
Inc.’s Lifestyle Group editor Sid Evans has landed a big fish in his effort
to rebuild his magazine stable, hiring food editor Hunter Lewis away from Condé Nast’s Bon
Appétit.
Lewis
will be executive editor at Southern Living, overseeing food content in
print and online and managing the magazine’s test kitchen staff.
Time Inc. Reports Q2 Revenue
Time Warner took time to boast
about HBO during its earnings call this morning. But it was harder to brag
about its Time Inc. publishing unit, which had another
lousy quarter: Revenue was down 9 percent, and operating income was down 43
percent.
Senate Hears Testimony about Online Tax
Amazon on
Wednesday reiterated its call for federal legislation that would pave the way
for states to begin requiring online sellers from out of state to remit sales
taxes, urging members of the Senate Commerce Committee to rally behind the
Marketplace Fairness Act.
Misener told lawmakers that the bill
would not create a new tax, but instead facilitate the collection of one that
is already due, but goes largely unpaid.
Under the bill, only states that
took steps to simplify their tax codes would be eligible to require retailers
to remit the taxes. But opponents of the bill have countered that the
simplification provisions in the current version of the bill don't go nearly
far enough to harmonize the roughly 9,600 state and local tax codes across the
country.
July Retail Sales Better than Expected
US shoppers proved resilient in July, driving a key sales figure up at retailers across the country, despite persistent worry about jobs and the global economy.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Catalyst Paper Reports Q2 Results
Catalyst Paper posts net loss of $11.7 million in second quarter, 2012:
Catalyst Paper is reporting a net loss of $11.7 million in the second quarter of 2012, in comparison to a net loss of $25.6 million the quarter before.
Catalyst Paper is reporting a net loss of $11.7 million in the second quarter of 2012, in comparison to a net loss of $25.6 million the quarter before.
H2 Acquires Norske Skog Parenco
H2 acquires Norske Skog Parenco and recovered paper business: Norske Skog has entered into an agreement to sell its paper mill Parenco in Renkum in the Netherlands and the global recovered paper business, Reparco, to investment firm H2 Equity Partners. Norske Skog expects to release cash from the transaction in the order of EUR 30 millions.
Stora Enso's PM Rebuild Ups Production 10%
Rebuild of PM 1 increases production by 10% at Stora Enso's Sachsen newsprint mill in Germany: After Voith carried out a rebuild of the Eilenburg PM 1 at Stora Enso Sachsen, Germany, the paper machine was successfully started up again in May 2012. The aims of Stora Enso were to improve runability and to eliminate existing bottlenecks in the system. Furthermore, the maximum operating speed of the paper machine was increased to 2,000 m/min, corre-sponding to a production increase of about 10% (depending on the grade range).
Oji Reacts to Protests
The
government of the city of Nantong in China has announced that it would stop
construction of a local wastewater pipeline following fierce environmental
protests on July 28. The move has raised concerns about whether Oji Paper's
700,000 tonne/yr pulp line at its nearby mill will come online on schedule in
early 2013.
RR Donnelley Reports Q2 Results
RR Donnelley Posts Earnings Increase, Net Sales Decline: R.R. Donnelley & Sons reported second-quarter 2012 net earnings attributable to common shareholders of $88.8 million on net sales of $2.5 billion (down 3.6 percent), compared to net earnings of $12.2 million.
Global Spending Forecast; Up 7.4% in 2012
Global ad spending will reach an estimated
$542.3 billion this year, up 7.4% over last year, according to a forecast from
eMarketer Inc.
The U.S. leads in global ad spending, with an
expected increase of 6.7% this year, to $169.5 billion.
ABC Delays New Publisher's Statement
A new, more detailed publisher’s statement is
coming from the Audit Bureau of Circulations, including expanded reporting of
digital metrics, but it will debut a little later than originally promised,
allowing the ABC board to gather more input from publishers, advertisers and ad
agencies, per the organization.
The board also agreed to defer requiring larger magazines to report issue-by-issue data via ABC’s Rapid Report tool until the new digital reporting requirements are approved.
The board also agreed to defer requiring larger magazines to report issue-by-issue data via ABC’s Rapid Report tool until the new digital reporting requirements are approved.
CR Roll Call Consolidates Brands
The Economist
Group’s CQ Roll Call business, which produces a variety of publications
that includes CQ Weekly, CQ Today and Roll Call, is undergoing a series of
changes, most notably with the consolidation of its brand into one daily print
publication and laying off up to 30 employees.
Condé Nast Makes Brides Bimonthly
Condé Nast Taking Brides Bimonthly, Boosts Mobile Interaction:
Brides is ratcheting back its print brand and investing more in its digital presence with a mobile-enhanced website. The 300,000-circ magazine is dropping down to a bimonthly frequency and the site will become fully mobile compatible and feature new tools and functionality to drive more engagement.
The magazine's last monthly issue will be December, with a January-March issue after that and then the bimonthly schedule will kick in with the April/May issue.
Brides is ratcheting back its print brand and investing more in its digital presence with a mobile-enhanced website. The 300,000-circ magazine is dropping down to a bimonthly frequency and the site will become fully mobile compatible and feature new tools and functionality to drive more engagement.
The magazine's last monthly issue will be December, with a January-March issue after that and then the bimonthly schedule will kick in with the April/May issue.
Afar Media Makes Executive Changes
Afar Media Makes Executive Changes:
Three-year old Afar is taking advantage of some forward momentum on print and digital business by shifting co-founder Joe Diaz into more of a business development role as chief product officer—he was previously vice president of sales and brand development. Meanwhile, the sales team is getting three new executives as well as promoting from within.
Three-year old Afar is taking advantage of some forward momentum on print and digital business by shifting co-founder Joe Diaz into more of a business development role as chief product officer—he was previously vice president of sales and brand development. Meanwhile, the sales team is getting three new executives as well as promoting from within.
D&B May Be For Sale
Report: Dun & Bradstreet puts itself on the block: Short Hills, N.J.—Business and marketing information company Dun & Bradstreet has reportedly put itself on the market and hired investment banks to help with the sale.
USPS Defaults on $5.5 Billion Payment to Treasury
The United States Postal Service defaulted today on a $5.5 billion payment to the United States Treasury, which was intended to cover the healthcare benefits of the organization's future retirees.
On July 30, the USPS issued a statement warning of the August 1 default, as well as a subsequent $5.6 billion payment that will not be made due. According to the statement, the USPS says there should not be any disruption of service.
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