Wausau Paper reported third quarter earnings of $5.2 million, down significantly from net earnings of $13.2 million reported during the same quarter of 2010, and said it has been evaluating strategic alternatives for the paper unit’s print and color business since the first quarter.
While the Mosinee-based company’s third-quarter earnings improved over the second quarter of 2011, they amounted to $0.10 per diluted share compared with $0.27 per diluted share in Q3 of 2010.
Also in the third quarter, sales decreased 3% to $266 million, and shipments decreased by 5%, to 160,000 tons, due primarily to planned volume reductions in the print and color segment. The company said its print and color franchise, which represented about 50% of 2010 paper revenues, competes in a declining market, and that it will move production at its Brainerd mill from print and color to growing technical markets.
The company, which also announced plans to sell its remaining timberlands, is working with a financial advisor in evaluating the print and color business.
