Neenah’s consolidated net sales of $264.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2021 increased 28% compared with $206.9 million in the prior year.

Technical Products net sales of $166.7 million in the fourth quarter increased 27% compared with prior year sales of $131.2 million. The revenue increased due to incremental net sales of $37.7 million from the acquisition of Itasa and pricing actions to recover raw material input cost increases. These increases were offset by a lower value sales mix in 2021, which included impacts from limited availability of some raw materials from supply chain constraints, adverse foreign currency translation and the impact of closure of the Appleton facility in September.

Consolidated net sales of $1.028 billion in 2021 were 30% higher than the prior year. The increase in net sales resulted primarily from strong organic volume growth in both segments, from pricing actions in response to input cost increases and from the Itasa acquisition which contributed $106.9 million to the change in the Technical Products segment. Net sales grew 38% in Technical Products and 18% in Fine Paper and Packaging. In addition to the incremental impacts from Itasa, the Technical Products segment volume increased significantly but was adversely affected by a lower value sales mix in 2021. The increase in net sales in the Fine Paper and Packaging segment was due to higher demand, increased selling prices and a higher value sales mix.

“Demand remained very strong in the fourth quarter and we began to see margin improvement against a backdrop of challenging manufacturing and supply chain conditions. We continue to address this dynamic environment with pricing actions and other internal initiatives to restore margins, including several annual pricing agreements taking effect in early 2022,” says Julie Schertell, CEO. “Looking back, 2021 was a foundation building year for Neenah. We took decisive actions to both expand and streamline our business, including a strategic acquisition and a facility closure, while making meaningful progress on our strategic agenda. I am confident our decisions and actions have positioned us well for continued top line growth, margin accretion and shareholder value creation.”