Operating income for Specialty Fibers up - Buckeye

28 Apr '10

4 min read

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John B. Crowe said, “In spite of a slow start in January and February due to the cold weather, our third quarter was a good quarter. Our markets remain very strong and should continue to be so for the near term. Gross margin for the quarter improved to 17.4% of sales, which is the highest level achieved since the October-December quarter of 2007. We generated free cash flow of $18.2 million during the quarter, enabling us to reduce our debt to $273.5 million and meet our fiscal year-end debt goal one quarter early. We have established a new target to reduce long-term debt below $250 million by the end of our fiscal year in June. We also completed the redemption of an additional $25 million of our 8.5% 2013 senior notes on April 19th using borrowings on our bank revolver, which will reduce the remaining notes outstanding to $140 million and further reduce interest costs going forward. Average selling prices of our products are expected to improve further in the fourth quarter. Also, in the near term, operational reliability and procurement of cotton linters will be the keys to building on the current quarter's success.”

Buckeye Technologies Inc

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