Clearwater Paper Corp., of Spokane, reported this afternoon a first-quarter net loss of $882,000, or 4 cents a diluted share, down from net income of $3.7 million, or 16 cents a share, in the year-earlier period.
Clearwater Paper CEO Linda Massman said in a press release that the company faced some cost challenges related to a limited inventory in retail tissue, caused by more demand than anticipated for conventional bathroom tissue.
"This had a negative impact on many of our cost categories, which was $9 million in the first quarter," Massman said.
However, Clearwater reported net first-quarter sales or $460.8 million, up from $457.8 million in the year-earlier quarter.
The company also reported that it repurchased about 830,000 shares of common stock during the first quarter at a total cost of $50.2 million. The company expects to complete an overall $100 million stock repurchase program by the end of 2013.
During the first quarter, Clearwater Paper announced plans to close a tissue converting and distribution facility in Thomaston, Ga., a small city located about 60 miles south of Atlanta. The company said it plans to move most of the equipment used at the Thomaston facility to Clearwater facilities in Shelby, N.C., and Oklahoma City. It said it will shut down the plant gradually and will continue to operate parts of it through the first quarter of 2014.