International Paper 2015 Annual Report Download - page 4

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 4 of the 2015 International Paper annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 117

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92
  • 93
  • 94
  • 95
  • 96
  • 97
  • 98
  • 99
  • 100
  • 101
  • 102
  • 103
  • 104
  • 105
  • 106
  • 107
  • 108
  • 109
  • 110
  • 111
  • 112
  • 113
  • 114
  • 115
  • 116
  • 117

Returns exceeding cost of
capital for six straight years
Financial Results
We delivered solid financial results fueled by
strong performances in our North American
industrial packaging business and our
Ilim joint venture in Russia. We achieved
strong results despite many challenges
in 2015: demand for our products was
mixed; the strong U.S. dollar weakened the
competitiveness of our exports; the Brazilian
economy was in recession; and China’s
economy weakened significantly.
Facing continued market and economic
challenges in China, we sold our 55 percent
equity stake in the Sun Paper coated board
joint venture, which removed $400 million
in debt from our balance sheet, and we
announced plans to sell our corrugated box
business in Asia. We will continue to serve
customers in Asia with products from our
Ilim joint venture, from the United States,
and from other regions.
We executed our strategy, enabling us
to achieve return on invested capital of
11 percent, well above our cost of capital.
After six consecutive years of higher than
cost-of-capital returns, we are confident
we can sustainably generate healthy returns
and continue to improve the company.
We generated strong free cash flow of
$1.8 billion, and $3.65 earnings per share,
the highest in 20 years.
MARCH 2016
To our shareowners:
For more than a century, International Paper
has been using renewable resources
responsibly to make recyclable products
people depend on every day. Once again in
2015, we demonstrated that our people and
our globally competitive manufacturing and
converting facilities can operate safely and
sustainably, maintain strong positions in
attractive markets, and generate substantial
free cash flow, even during challenging
economic environments.
I am pleased with the company’s overall
performance and confident in our ability to
create value for our shareowners, employees,
customers, and communities. We continued
to use cash from our operations in line with
our long-term capital allocation strategy—
reinvesting in our businesses to create
long-term value and returning cash to
our shareowners.
RETURN ON INVESTED CAPITAL
11%
9.2%
9.3%
2013 2014 2015
3 ANNUAL PERFORMANCE SUMMARY 2015