"We delivered second quarter earnings in line with our outlook, overcoming a $13 million unfavorable foreign exchange impact while navigating the heaviest planned maintenance outage quarter in over five years," – Jean-Michel Ribiéras, Chairman and CEO of Sylvamo.
Aug. 8, 2025 (Press Release) - Sylvamo (NYSE: SLVM) has released its second quarter 2025 earnings.
“We delivered second quarter earnings in line with our outlook, overcoming a $13 million unfavorable foreign exchange impact while navigating the heaviest planned maintenance outage quarter in over five years,” said Jean-Michel Ribiéras. “With 85% of our full year planned maintenance outages behind us, we are positioned for a stronger performance in the second half of the year as we expect seasonally stronger demand in North America and Latin America as well as improved operational performance.”
Our team navigated the largest planned maintenance outage quarter in over five years, delivering second quarter adjusted EBITDA in line with our outlook. Operational performance improved across our mills during the quarter. We remain focused on productivity, reliability and cost initiatives while ensuring we are well positioned for long-term value creation. Our team is committed to the success of our customers and is partnering with them to be the supplier of choice every day.
We returned $38 million in cash to shareowners through dividends and share repurchases. Our board of directors declared a third quarter dividend of $0.45 per share, which we paid July 29. We will continue evaluating opportunities to repurchase shares at attractive prices with $42 million remaining on our $150 million share repurchase authorization from September 2023.
Uncoated freesheet industry conditions varied by region in the first half of 2025 compared to the first half of 2024.
We continue to monitor the U.S. tariff situation and the potential challenges and opportunities that may unfold. In the first half of the year, we saw some shifts in uncoated freesheet trade flows. This is one of the main reasons why imports into the U.S. were up almost 40% through the first half of 2025. We are also keeping an eye on several cross-regional themes, including currency fluctuations with the U.S. dollar devaluation against many currencies.
Looking ahead, we expect third quarter adjusted EBITDA to improve significantly, supported by the absence of planned maintenance outage expenses, improved volumes and better operational performance. Our long-term approach to capital allocation includes reinvesting in our business to strengthen our competitive advantages.
As we first announced in February, we are investing in high-return projects at our Eastover, South Carolina, mill, including a $100 million paper machine speed-up and $45 million replacement sheeter. These combined investments should create incremental adjusted EBITDA of more than $50 million per year, resulting in additional cash flows and an internal rate of return of greater than 30%. Spending for these strategic investments began this year, while the majority will take place in 2026. These investments will increase our total capital spending in 2026, with spending returning to prior levels in 2027. We do not expect tariffs to have a material impact on the cost of our Eastover major capital projects or their expected returns.
We are focused on creating shareowner value by maintaining a strong financial position, reinvesting in our business to grow our earnings and cash flows and returning cash to shareowners. We are confident in our future and motivated by the opportunities that lie ahead.
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