NewPage buyer Verso Paper posts $35M loss

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Verso Paper Corp, which is buying NewPage Holdings Inc. (pictured here), posted a $35.5 million loss in its third quarter.

Joe Cogliano

Senior Reporter- Dayton Business Journal

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Verso Paper Corp, which is buying NewPage Holdings Inc., posted a $35.5 million loss in its third quarter.

That number is more than three times the $9.1 million loss Memphis-based Verso reported loss for the same quarter in 2013, but this year's figures includes a $14 million hit related to its purchase of Miami Township-based NewPage. Verso also posted $350.2 million in revenue for the quarter, down 6.6 percent from $374.9 million in the same period last year.

Despite the loss, Verso leaders say they are still on track to complete its acquisition of NewPage before the end of the year.

Related: NewPage is selling two of its mills to Canada's Catalyst Paper Holdings Inc. for $74 million in cash.

The health of NewPage and Verso are of interest to the Dayton region as at least some of its 300 local jobs are expected to remain here after the sale.

Verso said its latest revenue figures include a 2.7 percent drop in average sales price per ton and a 4 percent decline in total sales volume. Its prices for pulp and coated paper declined year over year, while specialty grade pricing remained flat.