Glatfelter’s net sales in the first quarter of 2023 were $378 million, down from $381 million in the first quarter of 2022.

Airlaid Materials’ first quarter net sales increased $10 million to $159 million in the year-over-year comparison mainly driven by higher selling prices from cost pass-through arrangements with customers and pricing actions to recover significant inflation in raw materials and energy. Shipments were 7.5% lower mainly due to feminine hygiene and tabletop categories and currency translation was unfavorable by $3.4 million.

Composite Fibers’ revenue was $3.2 million lower in the first quarter of 2023, compared to the year-ago quarter as lower shipments of 12% and unfavorable currency translation of $5.9 million was partially offset by higher selling prices of $12.0 million.

Spunlace revenue was $9.7 million lower in the first quarter of 2023, compared to the year-ago quarter as lower shipments of 20.8% and unfavorable currency translation of $1.4 million were partially offset by higher selling prices of $12 million.

“The actions we completed this quarter, combined with the improvement in Adjusted EBITDA, are strong indications of the progress we are making to turn around our business and drive greater profitability,” says Thomas Fahnemann, president CEO of Glatfelter. “The fundamentals of our Composite Fibers and Airlaid Materials segments remain strong as demonstrated by the quarter-over-quarter growth in profitability for both segments despite a continued difficult economic environment. And, although volumes increased in Spunlace, we did not see a sequential increase in profitability compared to the fourth quarter due to a challenged product mix.”

“We continue to aggressively drive improvements in our business and recently announced senior leadership changes that combine accountability for commercial and global supply chain into a single role to achieve greater alignment and improved efficiency across these important functions. Also, I have commissioned the formation of a product management function to gain greater category-level focus on strengthening product differentiation and innovation, maximizing customer value, and ultimately driving sustainable margin improvement. These changes are the next natural steps in executing our turnaround strategy, along with the ongoing work to address the overall performance of the Spunlace segment,” says Fahnemann.