Resolute Forest Products Announces 2011 Sales of $4.8 Billion

Resolute Forest Products reports net income of $41 million in 2011:
AbitibiBowater, doing business as Resolute Forest Products, has reported net income of $41 million for the year ended December 31, 2011 on sales of $4.8 billion.
This can be compared to a net income of $2.6 billion on sales of $4.7 billion in the year ended December 31, 2010.
The fourth quarter of 2011 resulted in a net loss of $6 million on sales of $1.1 billion, compared to net income of $4.2 billion on sales of $1.3 billion in the fourth quarter of 2010.

M-real Proposes Name Change

M-real Corporation's Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting to be convened on 28 March 2012 that the company's business name is changed to Metsä Board Corporation.

The new name and identity reflects a company that is according to its strategy strongly focused on high-quality ecological paperboards, and is innovative, responsible and stronger than before.

M-real Reports 2011 and Q4 Results

http://www.m-real.com/Pages/Default.aspx

Full Year 2011

Sales were EUR 2,485 million (Q1–Q4/2010: 2,605)
The operating result excluding non-recurring items was EUR 59 million (173). The operating result including non-recurring items was EUR -214 million (146).
The result before taxes excluding non-recurring items was EUR 0 million (92). The result before taxes including non-recurring items was EUR -281 million (48).

Earnings per share from continuing operations excluding non-recurring items were EUR 0.02 (0.23) and including non-recurring items EUR -0.83 (0.09).

Court Approves Catalyst Financing

Court approves Catalyst Paper’s DIP financing:
The Supreme Court of British Columbia has approved advances under the debtor-in possession (DIP) financing of up to approximately $175 million from JP Morgan, subject to certain terms and conditions, that the lenders have agreed to provide to Catalyst during the CCAA proceedings.

Hearst Ups Equity Interest in Fitch

Hearst Ups Equity Interest in Fitch Group to 50 Percent: Hearst Corporation has upped its equity interest in global credit ratings agency Fitch Group again, adding an additional 10 percent. The transaction, valued at $177 million, brings Heart’s total equity interest to 50 percent.

Bloomberg Businessweek & New York Magazine in Top 5

http://www.minonline.com/news/Top-5-WeekBiweek-Five-Year-Report-Bloomberg-BW-and-Autoweek-Rev-Their-Engines_19899.html

Concluding our five-year analysis of magazine advertising, we take a look at weekly and biweekly boxscores for 2007-2011 in min (see graph below). Only seven of the 30 mags that we track had an upward gain in ad sales for 2011. Three titles deserve recognition here: Bloomberg Businessweek, Autoweek and New York magazine (among top five with highest gains).

USPS Reports Q1 Loss and Other News

USPS Losses Total $3.3B in First Quarter as Mail Volumes Decline: The U.S. Postal Service ended the first three months of its 2012 fiscal year (Oct. 1 – Dec. 31, 2011) with a net loss of $3.3 billion.

 http://blogs.federaltimes.com/federal-times-blog/2012/02/08/hundreds-of-post-offices-dropped-from-u-s-postal-service-closure-list/

U.S. Postal Service list of about 3,650 post offices under study for closure? It’s now down to around 3,270.

Since the original roster was released last July, 380 facilities have quietly been given a reprieve.

http://www.btobonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120207/DIRECT0202/302079996/postal-service-proposes-rule-change-on-electronic-subscriptions&template=printart

The U.S. Postal Service has proposed a rule change that would allow publishers to report digital copies as paid and requested circulation. This change would allow publishers to count digital editions as part of the 50% of a publication's total circulations that must be from customers who have paid for or requested the publication.