In its first quarter earnings report released on Monday, Verso Corp., the Memphis, Tenn.-based owner of the Jay paper mill, posted an $88 million net loss and a $110 million operating loss, close to double what it was the same quarter last year.
In its report for the quarter ended March 31, Verso, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January, also showed $26 million in interest expenses.
“Our negative cash flows from operations caused an inability to support our significant interest payments and debt maturities and a need to refinance and/or extend the maturities of our outstanding debt,” the company said in its financial report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Verso cited the waning demand for coated paper and increased competition from imported products as factors in the decision for the bankruptcy filing.
The January bankruptcy filing came at a time when the paper manufacturer was trying to weather a $1.4 billion leveraged buyout of NewPage, one of its leading competitors. As part of the buyout, the company had to sell one of its mills in Rumford to Catalyst Paper Corp.
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