Verso first-quarter operating loss grows to $110 million, sales fall

By Caroline Salls

Pittsburgh, May 23 – Verso Corp. reported a $110 million operating loss for the three months ended March 31 on $690 million in net sales, according to a 10-Q filed Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Those figures showed a decline from the $56 million operating loss posted for the three months ended March 31, 2015 on $806 million in net sales.

According to the 10-Q, the decline in sales was primarily driven by a 13% decline in total sales volume, to 811,000 tons in 2016 from 929,000 tons in 2015.

The company said the decline in volume was primarily a result of the general softening of demand for coated papers, capacity reductions at Verso’s Androscoggin mill and the permanent closure of its Wickliffe mill.

The net loss for the first quarter of 2016 was $88 million, narrowing from a $122 million net loss for the same period of last year.

Verso had $40 million in cash and cash equivalents as of March 31, up from $4 million at Dec. 31.

Verso, a Memphis-based producer of printing and specialty papers and pulp, filed for bankruptcy on Jan. 26 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The Chapter 11 case number is 16-10163.

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