G-P Reports Loss for Quarter, Year

Georgia-Pacific Corp. reported that its results from continuing operations before unusual items broke even in the fourth quarter 2002 compared with income from continuing operations of $98 million in the same period of 2001.

Including unusual items, the company reported a loss from continuing operations of $234 million for fourth quarter 2002 compared with a loss from continuing operations of $187 million for the same period a year ago.

For the full year 2002, Georgia-Pacific reported a loss from continuing operations of $190 million, including unusual items. For the full year 2001, including unusual items and goodwill amortization, the company reported a loss from continuing operations of $476 million.

The company's income from continuing operations for all of 2002 was $265 million before unusual items compared with full year 2001 income from continuing operations before unusual items and goodwill amortization of $348 million in 2001.

For the fourth quarter, the company's net sales were $5.1 billion versus $5.8 billion in the same period of 2001. For all of 2002, total net sales were $23.3 billion compared with $25 billion in 2001. Total sales in 2001 included results from several businesses that have since been divested, including the stand-alone white paper business that was sold to Domtar Inc. in August 2001 as well as the Unisource business sold in November.

"Our results for the fourth quarter were very disappointing," said A.D. "Pete" Correll, chairman and chief executive officer. "Our performance, which is not indicative of these businesses' underlying strengths, was affected by challenging conditions in our building products commodities businesses, and pricing pressure and increased manufacturing costs in our North American consumer products business.

"In the face of these continuing difficult market conditions and anticipated higher pension costs in 2003, we expect to reduce administrative overhead costs by approximately $135 million below 2002 levels. This effort, along with our disciplined approach to inventory management and manufacturing to demand, is aimed at ensuring we are doing everything possible to maximize cash flow.