UPM Reports Q4 and 2012 Earnings

http://www.upm.com/en/Pages/default.aspx

Q4/2012

Earnings per share excluding special items were EUR 0.19 (0.16), and reported EUR -2.84 (0.20)
EBITDA was EUR 301 million, 11.4% of sales (301 million, 11.2% of sales)
Impairment charges of EUR 1,779 million were recorded in the Paper business area
Operating cash flow continued to be strong at EUR 352 million

Q1-Q4/2012

Earnings per share excluding special items were EUR 0.70 (0.93), and reported EUR -2.39 (0.88)
EBITDA was EUR 1,269 million, 12.2% of sales (1,383 million, 13.7% of sales)
Net debt decreased by EUR 582 million to EUR 3,010 million.

Catalyst Paper Completes Snowflake Sale

Catalyst Paper announced today that it has completed the US Court approved sale of the Snowflake assets and shares of Apache Railway. The Hackman Capital-led buyer group purchased the assets of the closed Snowflake facility and the shares of Apache Railway for US$13,460,000 and other non-monetary consideration. The transaction received local support from the Town of Snowflake and other interests, based on the buying group's intention to continue to operate the Apache Railway as a going concern.

MeadWestvaco Reports Q4 Results

http://www.meadwestvaco.com/index.htm

MeadWestvaco Corporation, a global leader in packaging and packaging solutions announced that total sales in the fourth quarter of 2012 increased 4 percent to $1.33 billion compared to fourth quarter of 2011. Excluding the effect of unfavorable foreign currency exchange, sales grew 6 percent due to increased volume of higher value products across most of the company's targeted packaging and specialty chemicals markets, as well as from higher land sales. During the quarter, the company had gains from its commercial excellence and innovation initiatives that resulted in volume and market share growth in medical dispensers, fragrance sprayers, beverage multi-packs, aseptic liquid packaging, targeted food packaging and new chemical formulations for adhesives and oilfield drilling markets. The company also benefited from the acquisitions of Polytop (caps and closures), Ruby Macons Ltd. (corrugated packaging materials) and Resitec (specialty chemicals).

AF&PA Elects Chairman

http://www.afandpa.org/
The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) today announced the election of Graphic Packaging President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) David Scheible as the new AF&PA board chairman, along with the 2013 slate of board officers.

Buyer of Sartell Won't Reopen Mill

http://www.sctimes.com/article/20130130/NEWS01/301300036/Verso-won-t-reopen-paper-mill-

AIM Development (USA) LLC, the company that has agreed to buy the former Verso Paper Corp. mill in Sartell, released little new information on its purchase Wednesday.

The city of Sartell has asked Verso for contact information to reach out to AIM Development. That request was declined, City Administrator Patti Gartland said.
On Wednesday, Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) reported AIM Development “appears to be part of” American Iron & Metal Company Inc. Messages left by the Times with that Montreal-based firm were not returned.
Late in the evening, MPR identified American Iron & Metal Co. President and CEO Hebert Black, who said he plans to reuse the Verso paper mill’s buildings in an as-yet-undetermined development. Black said there is no market to operate a paper mill and that he hopes to get a better idea of site development during a planned February visit.
“We’re not going to run the paper mill. It’s gone,” Black told MPR.

Resolute Building Sawmill to Supply Thunder Bay

http://www.resolutefp.com/Products/Commercial_Printing_Papers/

Resolute Forest Products today announced the construction of a new sawmill in the area of Atikokan, Ontario. This investment reflects Resolute's ongoing commitment to the solid wood business and will provide significant economic opportunities for First Nations in the region.

The Atikokan project will involve the construction of a single line random length (16 ft) sawmill with an annual capacity of 150 million board feet. Approximately 90 people will be directly employed by the operation, and additional indirect positions will be created for hauling finished lumber and residual chips. Final site selection in the Atikokan area will be completed in the next few weeks, and construction is anticipated to begin in the spring, with completion targeted for early 2014. The capital cost of the project is estimated at C$50 million.

Congressman Tours ME Mills to Review Industry Challenges

http://www.sunjournal.com/news/river-valley/2013/01/29/michaud-tours-newpage-several-other-maine-mills/1313816

Mike Michaud, a Maine congressman continued his tour of the state’s paper mills, and expressed concern that the Port Hawkesbury mill in Canada is selling SC paper below market price. He visited the NewPage paper mill Monday afternoon as part of his ongoing tour. Michaud worked at the Great Northern mill in East Millinocket for 29 years.

China's Buys 74% US RCP Exports

China purchased a higher-than-usual amount of total US recovered paper exports in November, with a 74% share, based on US Dept of Commerce, Bureau of Census figures.

Over the last several years, about two of every three tons of recovered paper exported went to China and that share has been rising this year to 70%.
In November, China purchased almost 1.26 million out of a total of 1.70 million tones of exports.
With India included, 80% of the November total exports went to China and India.
Of old corrugated containers (OCC), nearly 90% of the total OCC exports went to China (83%) and India (5.6%).
Year-to-date, the US exported 18.2 million tonnes through November, down 5% vs 2011 exports through November. The decline was caused by drops in sales of mixed paper and old newspapers, which combined were down 703,000, and in pulp substitutes (down 540,000).

Brazil's National Bank P&P Investment Up 215%

Brazil's National Development Bank (BNDES) funding to pulp and paper companies hit Real 3.97 billion ($ 1.95 billion) in 2012, a 215% raise over 2011's figures. According to a document released by the bank last week, the pulp and paper sector was the third in the country's industrial sector that most benefited from BNDES's financing last year, receiving 11% of all cash lent to industries. The bank's total funding for industries was Real 32 billion.

BNDES has been required by almost all Brazilian companies to finance their expansion plans, more recently including Eldorado's pulp project and Suzano's new pulp mill under construction in Maranhão state. The bank is also Fibria's major shareholder, with a 30.38% stake in the company.

IP CEO: Through Transformation, 'Not an M&A Story'

International Paper 'not an M&A story', says CEO:
International Paper is " through the transformation plan ", according to its CEO who said the company has been rebuilt and has performance potential with existing assets.

Folio: People On The Move

People On The Move | 1.31.13:
Scholastic Parent & Child has named Elizabeth Shaw as its executive editor. Shaw was previously a freelance writer and editor.
Time Inc. has named Lora Gier as executive director of Shopper Link. Gier was previously vice president and publisher at Taste of Home.
Jennifer Morgan has been named president at Time Out North America. Morgan was formerly COO and CMO at Collective Media and more...

Backstage Buys Sonicbids

Backstage Acquires Musician’s Job Board Sonicbids:
Backstage, the niche magazine for the acting and modeling community, is expanding its scope with the acquisition of Sonicbids, a social music marketing platform that connects bands, promoters, consumer brands and music fans.
This is the first major deal since the parent company of Backstage, Guggenheim Digital Media, changed its name from Prometheus Global Media and tapped former Yahoo! exec Ross Levinsohn as its CEO earlier this month.
According to The New York Times, the deal is estimated to be worth $15 million—a number John Amato, chairman and CEO of Backstage Media, declined to confirm.

Q3 Global Ad Spending Up 3.3%

Nielsen: Global Spending On Ad Spend On the Rise: According to Nielsen, global ad spend has risen 3.3% YOY. TV ads (61.8%) commanded the majority of global ad spend. The next largest spends: newspaper (19.7%), followed by magazine (7.9%).

More B-to-B Titles Using Brand Audit Report

B-to-B Titles Using Brand Audit Report Quadruples Year-Over-Year:
There are a variety of signals that point to the growing importance of measuring and tracking audience across a brand's platform. On the ad side you have the explosion of marketing services and on the audience side there's the continued push for integrated databases.
Another indication could be the sudden and rapid increase of brands utilizing BPA's Brand Report. In the last year, the number of titles reporting cross-platform audience metrics has more than quadrupled. A total of 295 titles are now reporting their audience metrics across channels.
According to the BPA, the healthcare category has the most titles, at 87, using the report, followed by manufacturing (38) and legal & financial services (33). 

Berkery Noyes Releases M&A Report

http://www.pubexec.com/article/berkerey-noyes-releases-media-marketing-manda-report-for-full-year-2012/1

Berkery Noyes, an independent mid-market investment bank, has released its full year 2012 mergers and acquisitions trend report for the Media and Marketing Industry. The report analyzes M&A activity in the Media and Marketing Industry during 2012 and compares it with data covering 2010 and 2011.
Berkery Noyes’ research showed that deal volume increased three percent on a year-to-year basis, from 1,570 transactions to 1,611 transactions, and rose 22 percent relative to 2010. Aggregate transaction value showed a gain of 17 percent, from $65.41 billion in 2011 to $76.23 billion in 2012. The median revenue multiple declined from 1.8x to 1.3x, while the median EBITDA multiple fell from 9.8x to 7.5x. Strategic acquirers represented 87 percent of the Media and Marketing Industry’s deal volume, which was the same percentage as in 2011.

Condé Nast's W Cuts Frequency

http://www.adweek.com/news/press/cond-nasts-w-cuts-frequency-ups-digital-focus-146908

Condé Nast's W magazine is reducing its print frequency from 12 issues a year to 10 while amping up its digital presence.

While other magazines' frequency cuts usually are a symptom of falling ad pages, the oversized fashion glossy's first-quarter ad pages are the highest they've been since 2008 (the March issue was up 3 percent year over year), after a year in which ad pages rose 10.3 percent over 2011, to 1,202, per Publishers Information Bureau, leading to new publisher Lucy Kriz's recent internal recognition at the Condé Nast publisher’s awards.

Details of Time Cuts Reported

http://www.adweek.com/news/press/real-simple-s-sally-preston-out-146893

Some of the bigger-name casualties of today’s massive Time Inc. layoffs are starting to trickle out. Among the notables are Real Simple publisher Sally Preston, who jumped over from rival Martha Stewart Living a little over a year ago to the powerhouse lifestyle brand. Also gone is Health editor Ellen Kunes, who has been with the brand since 2007 and who led a much-touted redesign in 2010.

Picking up Real Simple will be Charlie Kammerer, who had been group publisher of This Old House and Coastal Living. Those two titles will be handled by AP Nate Stamos and Lifestyle Group publisher Greg Keyes, respectively. All You editor Clare McHugh will add responsibility for Health.

The cuts were by no means limited to the Lifestyle Group. At Entertainment Weekly, Erik Yates, an ad director who just started there in March from Rolling Stone, was also let go.

Rodale Brands Hit 5-Year Ad Page High

VIDEO: Rodale Brands Hit 5-Year Ad Page High:
Rodale Inc. is edging into 2013 on a high note, with its brands up 17 percent in March ad pages year-over-year, according to the company.
Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Runner’s World and Bicycling magazines are experiencing their best March issues in 5-plus years, with Women’s Health experiencing its best first quarter ever with a 25 percent increase when comparing the first quarter of 2012.
In addition to print, digital online-only revenue is up 33 percent across all brands for January when comparing numbers year-over-year, and new advertising partners are signing on with the company for the first time.