Net sales of Glatfelter, a global supplier of engineered materials, totaled $232.5 million for 3 months ending September 30, 2019 against $209.9 million in Q3 of 2018. Excluding Steinfurt, Germany acquisition and on a constant currency basis, Airlaid Materials’ net sales increased by 14.2 per cent and Composite Fibers’ net sales decreased by 4.2 per cent.

Airlaid Materials’ net sales increased $34.1 million primarily due to the Steinfurt acquisition and a 15.8 per cent organic increase in shipping volumes reflecting strong growth in wipes, hygiene and table top products.

Composite Fibers’ net sales decreased $11.5 million driven by unfavorable currency translation of $5.6 million and a 10.8 per cent decline in shipping volumes.

Due to the divestiture of Specialty Papers in October 2018, its results are classified as discontinued operations for all periods presented in this release.

For nine months ending September 30, 2019, the company reported net sales of $696,701 million against $636,806 for nine months ending September 30, 2018.

“Glatfelter delivered another quarter of solid performance driven by continued momentum in Airlaid Materials and accelerated progress toward our previously announced cost reduction targets,” said Dante C Parrini, chairman and chief executive officer. “In the third quarter, Airlaid Materials had another record-setting quarter growing both volumes and net sales by nearly 50 per cent and more than doubling operating profit over the prior year. These results were driven by a 16 per cent increase in year-over-year shipments from our legacy business, as well as the successful integration of our Steinfurt acquisition. We continued to make progress reducing our corporate costs during the quarter and expect to exceed our 2019 targeted savings.”

“Composite Fibers continued to face competitive market conditions and the resulting machine downtime from weak demand, translating to lower overall shipments of approximately 11 per cent for the quarter. While the environment is challenging, we remain committed to maintaining our leading market positions while aggressively managing the cost structure to keep Composite Fibers competitive. Our migration from a business unit structure to a functional operating model has also brought greater focus to this part of the business through realignment of the previously announced commercial leadership team and the establishment of an integrated global supply chain function.

“Looking ahead we are confident we will meet our overall cost reduction target of $14 million to $16 million by the end of 2020, which will help drive our transformation to a leaner, more agile engineered materials company. In our Airlaid Materials’ legacy business, shipments were up 13 per cent year to date, and we expect to finish the year at or above the top end of our previously announced target of 8 per cent to 10 per cent volume growth for 2019. At Steinfurt, we have already achieved $6.7 million of operating profit through the first three quarters of 2019, putting us well on track to meet the upper end of our $7 million to $9 million operating profit target for the year. Finally, in Composite Fibers, we are intensifying our efforts to identify opportunities, develop new products and optimize utilization of our Dresden facility to offset the commercial headwinds in wallcover,” added Parrini.

In September 2019, Glatfelter announced the addition of Wolfgang Laures, PhD, as senior vice president, global supply chain, a newly established role with responsibility for leading the company's integrated global supply chain organisation. This completes the senior executive leadership team for the company’s transition to the new operating structure.