MEMPHIS, Tenn. (News release) -- Sylvamo, the world's paper company, is releasing fourth quarter and full year 2025 earnings.

Management Summary from Chief Executive Officer John Sims

As Sylvamo's CEO, my vision is that Sylvamo will be legendary for the way we relentlessly pursue and achieve world-class excellence in all that we do. This will create substantial and lasting value for our employees, customers and shareowners and will enable us to be the employer, supplier and investment of choice.

I am committed to allocating capital wisely to create long-term value, communicating transparently, upholding our values and driving smart, data-driven decisions while operating safely with a focus on our customers and cost. We seek high-quality, long-term shareowners who share our vision of disciplined capital allocation and sustainable value-creation.

In 2025, we operated in a challenging environment, but our strategy did not change. We continued to deploy capital with discipline and take actions to strengthen Sylvamo's competitive position as we invest in our lowest‑cost, most advantaged assets. At the same time, we maintained a strong balance sheet and returned cash to shareowners.

-Financial Results

In the fourth quarter, Sylvamo generated net income of $33 million and adjusted EBITDA^* of $125 million, representing a 14% margin. Cash provided by operating activities was $94 million, and free cash flow^* was $38 million.

For the full year 2025, Sylvamo generated net income of $132 million and adjusted EBITDA of $448 million, representing a 13% margin. Cash provided by operating activities was $268 million, and free cash flow was $44 million. Despite the challenging environment, we generated 12% return on invested capital^* for the year.

-Capital Allocation

Keeping a strong financial position is the cornerstone of our capital allocation framework. This allows us to reinvest in our business, strengthen our competitive advantage through the cycle and increase future earnings and cash flow. In 2025, we maintained our strong financial position and balance sheet, achieving a net debt-to-adjusted EBITDA^* of 1.6x.

We reinvested $224 million across our manufacturing network and forestlands in Brazil to strengthen our low-cost position, while accelerating development of high-return capital investments.

Throughout 2025, we returned $155 million to shareowners through $82 million in share repurchases and $73 million in dividends. Our board of directors declared a $0.45 dividend for the first quarter, which we paid Jan. 23. As of Jan. 30, we still have the full $150 million remaining under our current share repurchase authorization.

-Regional Business Conditions

Looking at our regional industry conditions, North America and Brazil remain positive, while Europe and other Latin American countries are challenged. In the first quarter compared to the fourth quarter, our regional businesses will be impacted by lower volumes, higher energy costs and the non-repeat of favorable one-time items.

• In Europe, industry supply and demand conditions continue to be challenging, but market conditions have started to show signs of improvement as pulp prices began to rebound in the fourth quarter and improvement continues into the first quarter. Reflecting the challenging industry dynamics in Europe, our cutsize paper prices exited the year 100 euros per tonne below where we exited 2024. We have communicated paper price increases to our customers and expect the realization to begin in the second quarter.

• In Latin America, we are moving from the fourth quarter where paper demand is seasonally the strongest to the first quarter where demand is seasonally the weakest. This also negatively impacts our geographic mix in the first quarter. In Brazil, we communicated paper price increases to our customers both domestically and for exports. We have started to see realization for Brazil in January and are starting to see some realization in our export regions in February.

• In North America, we are seeing improvements in industry supply and demand. Imports have declined significantly since the summer. We communicated paper price increases to our customers and expect the realization to begin in the second quarter. 2026 will be a transition year in North America as we work through some short-term capacity constraints due to the termination of the Riverdale supply agreement with International Paper (NYSE: IP) and an upcoming extended outage at our Eastover, South Carolina, mill as we execute our strategic investments. To serve our most valuable customers, we will import from our mills in Europe, convert product using third-party vendors and build inventory to transition from the Riverdale volume exit to the completion of our Eastover strategic investments. As we build inventory for this transition, our sales volume in North America will be most impacted in the first quarter.

-Looking Ahead

Our capital spending will peak in 2026 as we execute the majority of our $145 million high-return strategic investments at our Eastover mill, including a paper machine optimization project, a new, state-of-the-art cutsize sheeter and a woodyard modernization project.

2025 and 2026 will be low points in free cash flow as we work through industry headwinds, particularly in Europe, and complete high‑return investments. As these conditions normalize and our investments begin to deliver, Sylvamo is well positioned to generate stronger, more sustainable results with the potential to generate annually:

• > $300 million in free cash flow

• > 15% return on invested capital

Our priorities remain unchanged: maintaining a strong financial position, reinvesting with discipline and returning cash to shareowners over time.