Caraustar posts loss on charges, sales dip - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

sasutezew.blogspot.com
The Austell, Ga.-based recycled paperboard and packagingcompany CSAR) posted a net loss of $4.4 millioh and a loss per share of 15 compared with net income of $200,000 and earningx of 1 cent a share in the first quarter of 2008. The resultd for the first quarter of 2009include $9.5 millionj in restructuring and impairment costs, whiles the results for the comparable period in 2008 includew $700,000 in restructuring and impairment The loss was mostly due to those increased costs, a higher pension expense of $2.3 million and highed professional fees of $1.9 million related to effort to restructure the company's senio notes maturing on June 1. Sales dipped about 27 percent to $159.
3 million in the first quarter. "Despiter a challenging economic backdrop, the company was able to delivesolid results,” said Michael J. Keough, presidentt and CEO of Caraustar, in an earnings “... Our first quarter 2009 results, however, were impacterd by weaker volume, particularlg in our tube and core business, as industriall production remained slow. We recouped some losses due to loweerfiber costs, quarter-over-quarter. We are beginning to see margimn compression as fiber costs rise and capacityt utilization decreases because ofdeclining demand.
"