News Details

MEMPHIS, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Sylvamo (NYSE: SLVM), the world’s paper company, is releasing first quarter earnings. The company will host an audio webcast at 10 a.m. EDT at investors.sylvamo.com.

Management Summary from Chief Executive Officer John Sims

2026 continues to be a transition year as we work through some short-term capacity constraints due to the termination of the Riverdale supply agreement at the end of April and an upcoming extended outage at our Eastover, South Carolina, mill as we execute our strategic investments.

Our high-return strategic investments at Eastover are on track. The paper machine optimization project is scheduled for completion during a planned maintenance outage in the fourth quarter. The new cutsize sheeter is also on schedule and will be installed in the third quarter, ramping up in the fourth quarter. The hardwood line of the woodyard modernization project is running and already showing improved chip quality, and we expect to see improved yield moving forward. The softwood operation is expected to start up in the first quarter of 2027.

To serve our most valuable customers in the U.S. during this transition, we started importing from our mills in Europe, converting product using third-party vendors and building inventory. This resulted in lower sales volume and incremental costs in the first quarter. Changes in U.S. global tariff rates in late February prompted us to revise our plans and begin bringing product in from our operations in Brazil while ramping down imports from our Europe operations. We expect this to benefit Sylvamo by reducing the 2026 North America footprint transition costs by approximately $20 million at current tariff rates.

The first quarter played out largely as we anticipated with the exception of some reliability issues in Europe and Latin America. The root causes have mostly been corrected or will be during the upcoming annual outages. In the first quarter, we began implementing previously communicated uncoated freesheet paper price increases to customers across all our regions. We started to see the benefits of these increases in the first quarter in North America and Latin America and will continue to see realization of these increases across all regions into the second quarter.

Sylvamo generated a net loss of $3 million and adjusted EBITDA^* of $29 million, representing a 4% margin. Cash used for operating activities was $10 million, and free cash flow^* was negative $59 million.

As anticipated, free cash flow was lower than the fourth quarter, due to lower earnings, unfavorable impacts of our inventory build, the timing of payments and the payment of annual incentive compensation in the first quarter. These were partially offset by favorable cash collections related to Latin America’s seasonally higher fourth quarter sales.

Our free cash flow is heavily weighted to the second half of the year. In the last few years, we generated the vast majority of our free cash flow in the second half, and we expect to do so again this year.

-Capital Allocation

Our board of directors declared a $0.45 dividend for the second quarter, which we paid April 28.

We refinanced debt due in 2027 to extend our maturity profile, which allows us to navigate the current uncertain environment without changing our long-term approach to capital allocation.

Our capital allocation philosophy has not changed. We will deploy every dollar with the goal of improving our competitive position and delivering the best possible shareowner returns over time. We plan to maintain a strong financial position, reinvest in our business and return cash to shareowners.

-Regional Business Conditions

• In Europe, industry supply and demand remain challenging. Pulp prices improved throughout the first quarter, and we are realizing previously communicated paper price increases in April. We have communicated a second paper price increase effective in May and expect the realization to occur through the second and third quarters.

• In Latin America, we moved from the seasonally strongest demand in the fourth quarter to the seasonally weakest in the first quarter, but now expect demand to increase each quarter this year. We are realizing the previously communicated paper price increases to our customers in Brazil, export customers across other Latin American countries as well as customers in the Middle East and Africa. We have communicated a second paper price increase effective in April to our customers across other Latin American countries as well as customers in the Middle East and Africa. We should continue to see additional realization in these regions through the second quarter.

• In North America, industry supply and demand dynamics have improved as roughly 7% of the annual uncoated freesheet industry supply was removed with the Riverdale mill conversion. After peaking in June 2025, imports into North America have declined significantly throughout the second half of last year and into the first quarter. We also began realizing previously communicated paper price increases to our customers and expect to see additional realization through the second quarter.

Our business is currently experiencing increasing energy, chemical, diesel and ocean freight costs due to the Middle East conflict and we expect the pressure to continue. We are focusing on what we can control across our regions to reduce costs and taking commercial actions to help offset the impacts.

-Looking Ahead

We are transforming Sylvamo into a lean, employee-driven, continuous improvement culture. Lean is a long-term, company-wide transformation focused on maximizing customer value by eliminating waste, improving performance, strengthening customer experience and achieving operational excellence and cost leadership over time. We kicked off our lean transformation in Latin America in the first quarter and will begin our efforts in North America in the second quarter.

We are focused on long-term value creation by making disciplined, data-driven decisions that position us for sustainable success and strengthen Sylvamo for decades to come. As industry conditions turn, our capital spending normalizes and the benefits from our investments begin to materialize, we have the potential to generate annually:

• > $300 million in free cash flow

• > 15% return on invested capital

Earnings Webcast

The company will host an audio webcast at 10 a.m. EDT at investors.sylvamo.com.

To participate in Q&A, use the analyst registration to receive a unique passcode.

Replays will be available at investors.sylvamo.com for one year.

About Sylvamo

Sylvamo Corporation (NYSE: SLVM) is the world's paper company with mills in Europe, Latin America and North America. Our vision is to be the employer, supplier and investment of choice. We transform renewable resources into papers that people depend on for education, communication and entertainment. Headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, we employ more than 6,500 colleagues. Net sales for 2025 were $3.4 billion. For more information, please visit Sylvamo.com.

Segment Information

Sylvamo uses business segment operating profit (loss) to measure the earnings performance of its businesses and is calculated as set forth in footnote (d) under the "Sales and Earnings by Business Segment" table (page 7). First quarter 2026 net sales by business segment and operating profit (loss) by business segment compared with the fourth quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2025 are as follows:

Operating profits in the first quarter of 2026:

Europe - $(44) million compared with $(29) million in the fourth quarter of 2025. Losses were higher due to lower sales price and mix and higher operating and input costs.

Latin America - $4 million compared with $37 million in the fourth quarter of 2025. Earnings were lower due to lower sales mix, lower volumes, higher operating costs and higher planned maintenance outages.

North America - $25 million compared with $71 million in the fourth quarter of 2025. Earnings were lower due to lower volumes, lower sales mix and higher operating and input costs which more than offset lower planned maintenance outages.

Effective Tax Rate

The reported effective tax rate for the first quarter of 2026 was 50%, compared to 43% for the fourth quarter of 2025. The higher rate for the first quarter was due to the mix of earnings in our regions.

The effective operational tax rate for the first quarter of 2026 was 13%, compared with 36% for the fourth quarter of 2025.

The effective operational tax rate is a non-GAAP financial measure and is calculated by adjusting the income tax provision (benefit) and rate to exclude the tax effect at the applicable statutory rate of net special items and the impact of foreign exchange on a note receivable from our Brazilian subsidiary. Management believes that this presentation provides useful information to investors by providing a more meaningful comparison of the income tax rate between past and present periods.

Effects of Net Special Items

Net special items in the first quarter of 2026 amounted to a net after-tax charge of $1 million ($0.03 per diluted share), compared with a net after-tax charge of $11 million ($0.27 per diluted share) in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Adjusted Operating Earnings (Loss) (non-GAAP) are net income (loss) (GAAP), net of tax, plus the impact of foreign exchange on a note receivable from our Brazilian subsidiary and net special items. Management uses this measure to focus on ongoing operations and believes it is useful to investors because it enables them to perform meaningful comparisons of past and present operating results. The Company believes that using this information, along with net income (loss), provides for a more complete analysis of the results of operations. Net income (loss) is the most directly comparable GAAP measure. For more information regarding net special items, see the information under the heading Effects of Net Special Items and the Consolidated Statement of Operations and related notes included later in this release.

Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP) is net income (loss) (GAAP), net of tax, plus the sum of income taxes, net interest expense, depreciation, amortization and cost of timber harvested, stock-based compensation, the impact of foreign exchange on a note receivable from our Brazilian subsidiary, and, when applicable for the periods reported, net special items. Management uses this measure in managing the operating performance of our business and believes that Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin provide investors and analysts meaningful insights into our operating performance and Adjusted EBITDA is a relevant metric for the third-party debt. The Company believes that using this information, along with net income (loss), provides for a more complete analysis of the results of its operations. Net income (loss) is the most directly comparable GAAP measure. For more information regarding net special items, see the information under the heading Effects of Net Special Items and the Consolidated Statement of Operations and related notes included later in this release.

Free Cash Flow is a non-GAAP measure and the most directly comparable GAAP measure is cash provided by operating activities. Management utilizes this measure in connection with managing our business and believes that Free Cash Flow is useful to investors as a liquidity measure because it measures the amount of cash generated that is available, after reinvesting in the business, to maintain a strong balance sheet and service debt, and return cash to shareowners. It should not be inferred that the entire Free Cash Flow amount is available for discretionary expenditures. Free Cash Flow also enables investors to perform meaningful comparisons between past and present periods.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including the information under the heading "Management Summary from Chief Executive Officer John Sims." Any or all forward-looking statements may turn out to be incorrect, and our actual actions and results could differ materially from what they express or imply, because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond our control. These risks, uncertainties, and other factors include those disclosed in the heading "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2025, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and in our subsequent filings with the SEC, available on our website, Sylvamo.com. These forward-looking statements reflect our current expectations, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.