COMPANY COMMENT: Sappi packs a punch after long turnaround
International pulp, paper and packaging company has been an arduous road back from about R20 a share in early 2009, to about R90 now
It has been years since the market took any real interest in the group. Its fine-coated paper operations were hit first by the internet and then by the global financial crisis. But this might be changing after the international pulp, paper and packaging company declared a dividend in the year to September 2016 for the first time since 2008. It has been an arduous road back from about R20 a share in early 2009, to about R90 now. Nearly half of that has been made since September 2016. In the year, net profit shot up 91% to $319m as earnings per share increased about 68% to 57US cents. Sappi has considerably increased the sale of dissolving wood pulp, also known as chemical cellulose, a high-margin product used mainly in the textile, clothing and pharmaceutical industries. Chemical cellulose has now reached 18% of total sales for the group. But coated paper is still the bulk of product sales, making up 59% of total sales in the year to September 2016. Sappi has taken costs out of its g...
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