International Paper Company

Good morning and thank you for standing by. Welcome to today's International Papers first quarter 2021 Investor Earnings Day conference call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, you will have an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, press star one on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, press the pound key. I'd now like to turn today's conference call over to Guillermo Gutierrez, Vice President, Investor Relations.

Thank you, Maria. Good morning, and thank you for joining International Paper's first quarter 2021 earnings call. Our speakers this morning are Mark Sutton, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Tim Nichols, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. There's important information at the beginning of our presentation on slide two, including certain legal disclaimers. For example, during this call, we will make forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, including the impact of COVID-19. We will also present certain non-US GAAP financial information. A reconciliation of those figures to US GAAP financial measures is available on our website. Our website also contains copies of our first quarter 2021 earnings press release, and today's presentation slides. Relative to the YILM joint venture and graphic packaging investment, slide two provides context around the financial information and measures presented on those entities. I will now turn the call over to Mark Sutton.

Thank you, Guillermo, and good morning, everyone. We will begin our discussion on slide three. The international paper delivered solid earnings and strong cash generation in the first quarter. our milling converting system performed well to mitigate the significant impact of the winter storm and support a strong customer demand across all of our packaging channels. Input costs and transportation were a headwind in the first quarter, especially for energy, which was impacted by the duration of the severe cold temperatures in the southern U.S. We see momentum building continuing to build across our three businesses with very strong demand for corrugated packaging and container board and solid demand for absorbent pulp. And in papers, we're seeing an improved supply-demand backdrop in all of our key geographies. On capital allocation, in the first quarter, we repaid $108 million of debt, and we returned $331 million to shareholders, including $129 million of share repurchases. Our performance, again, demonstrates the agility and resilience of international paper to perform well across many different circumstances. We're passing the one-year mark of the global pandemic, and I could not be any prouder of the commitment of our employees to take care of each other and to take care of our customers. The vast majority of our 48,000 team members work in our mills and converting plants each and every day, and their health and safety remains our most important responsibility. We also made solid progress on the spinoff of our printing papers business, which we expect to complete late in the third quarter this year. Our team is also making strong progress to develop and deliver multiple streams of earnings initiatives to achieve the $350 to $400 million in incremental earnings and accelerated growth by the end of 2023. As we work to build a better IP, we remain laser focused on delivering superior solutions to our customers, executing well, and meeting our commitments to our shareholders and our other stakeholders. Turning now to slide four, which shows our first quarter results. We delivered EBITDA of $730 million and free cash flow of $423 million, despite the $80 million pre-tax earnings impact from the winter storm in the southern U.S. Revenue increased by more than $100 million sequentially, primarily driven by price realization in our packaging and global cellulose fibers businesses. And again, free cash flow was strong with a continued focus on running our business as well controlling our cost, and actively managing our working capital. Now I'll turn it over to Tim, who will cover our business performance and our second quarter outlook. Tim?