Navigator made a profit of 23.5 million euros in the first quarter of this year, a decrease of 23.2% compared to the same period in 2020, when it recorded a net result of 30.6 million euros.
The group, led by Antonio Redondo, said in a statement that total sales in the first three months of this year fell 16% to € 340.8 million, while EBITDA fell 20.2% to € 70.6 million.
“The beginning of 2021 was still marked by serious adversity with intense ‘isolation’ until the end of the quarter in most of the group’s main markets, which affected paper demand in Europe and the United States. “, – emphasizes” Navigator “when presenting quarterly results.
According to him, “pulp, which has already shown itself to be particularly resilient in 2020, has shown a recovery in base prices in 2021,” and fabric, “despite the good performance recorded in this business, has suffered from the impact of circulation restrictions,” with the prospect the company “a gradual resumption of this market as economic activity normalizes.”
Navigator also says it has predicted the second to first quarter plant maintenance period to coincide with the containment period, while ensuring “effective cost management and inventory reduction.”
On the cost side, the company underlines “the work done by the teams to transversely reduce fixed and variable costs, which was still reflected in this quarter and helped partially mitigate the decline in turnover and achieve EBITDA of 71 million”, which corresponds to a 21% margin (by 1 percentage point less than the first quarter of 2020).
Despite indications that the future is still uncertain, the group’s next quarter outlook “is to improve performance in the pulp, paper and paper sector as the economy recovers and the vaccination plan is met,” suggesting that “to save about 80% savings in operating expenses in the period from 2019 to 2020, as well as in the implementation of the investment plan and sustainable development projects. “
Compared to the first quarter of 2020, which he considers “difficult to compare,” paper sales in the first three months of this year fell 8%, while pulp sales were down 6%, and paper napkins were up 4%.
The group’s net debt decreased by € 175.9 million year-on-year to € 624 million, maintaining the net debt / EBITDA ratio at 2.33 X.
