Norske Canada reported a net loss of $13.3 million ($0.06 per common share), and an operating loss of $16.4 million on net sales of $405.9 million. This is an improvement over the previous quarter when the company recorded a net loss of $28.1 million ($0.14 per common share), and an operating loss of $21.3 million on net sales of $415.8 million. The fourth quarter loss includes an after-tax foreign exchange gain arising from the translation of U.S. dollar denominated debt of $15.0 million ($0.07 per common share), compared with $0.6 million for the previous quarter.
NorskeCanada President and CEO, Russell J. Horner pointed to modest price gains for most paper and pulp grades and a sharp focus on cost management as drivers of the $4.7 million improvement in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) compared with the previous quarter. "While the U.S. economy showed strong recovery in the latter half of 2003, the revenue benefits did not reach paper markets by year-end," Horner said. "Newsprint consumption stayed sluggish, specialty papers showed only marginal pricing improvements, the directory market was plagued by oversupply, and fortunes were mixed in softwood and hardwood pulp markets."

For lightweight coated (LWC), supercalendered (SC), and machine-finished (MF) hi-brite papers, prices improved marginally as improving demand for catalogues and newspaper inserts compensated for continued weak magazine ad lineage. The North American directory market continued to be plagued by oversupply, despite some modest improvement in demand during the current quarter.

Softwood and hardwood pulp markets had somewhat mixed fortunes in the final quarter of 2003. Demand for softwood pulp remained fairly stable, as Chinese buyers remained active through the period. For hardwood pulp, however, excess capacity led to downward pressure on prices towards the end of the year.