LISBON, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Portugal's pulp and paper
producer Navigator announced a 40.7% drop in third
quarter net profit on Tuesday, a slight improvement on its
half-year results as a gradual reopening of economies drove
demand.
The results were released after the stock market close.
During the trading session, Navigator shares fell 3.23% to
1.858 euros, the lowest since mid-2012 and nearly double the
fall in Portugal's benchmark index PSI20 of 1.83%.
At 31.2 million euros ($36.88 million), third quarter
profits were significantly below last year's 52.6 million euros,
but are an improvement on the company's second quarter profits
of 13.4 million euros when global lockdowns shrank paper
consumption.
Navigator, which sells more than 80% of its products to 130
countries on five continents and the rest to domestic clients,
saw total sales fall 17.1% to 348.4 million euros between July
and September this year, but says recovery is in evidence.
"All the group's wood-free, uncoated paper machines have
been working at full speed since the beginning of the quarter,"
the company said.
"With the reopening of economies and the gradual recovery in
demand for paper, Navigator saw a significant improvement in its
activity."
EBITDA - earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and
amortisation - stood at 70.4 million euros in the quarter, a
fall of 24.6% from last year but a recovery from the second
quarter's 51.7 million euros.
The operating margin - EBITDA/sales - stood at 20.2% in the
third quarter versus 17.8% in the previous quarter and 22.2% in
the same quarter of 2019.
($1 = 0.8461 euros)
(By Sergio Goncalves; Editing by Victoria Waldersee and Barbara
Lewis)