WestRock Provides Update of Financial Impact Following Hurricane Florence


Atlanta, Georgia, USA 27 September 2018 -- (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- WestRock Company (NYSE: WRK), a leading provider of differentiated paper and packaging solutions, today provided an estimate of the impact of Hurricane Florence on its business and fiscal fourth quarter financial results.

As previously announced, as a precaution, we idled our kraft linerboard mill located in Florence, South Carolina in advance of the landfall of Hurricane Florence. All three paper machines at the mill resumed normal production in the middle of last week. The mill lost approximately 10,000 tons of containerboard production.

The financial impact from Hurricane Florence on the September quarter is expected to be approximately $12 million on a pre-tax basis. This estimated impact is related to advance storm preparation costs across our regional mill and converting network; lost containerboard production; increased operating costs; higher regional input costs, including wood, transportation and logistics issues; and other storm-related costs. Some additional increased costs are expected to carry over into the December quarter, and we will provide additional details, as appropriate, during our fiscal fourth quarter earnings conference call.

About WestRock

WestRock (NYSE: WRK) partners with our customers to provide differentiated paper and packaging solutions that help them win in the marketplace. WestRock's 45,000 team members support customers around the world from more than 300 operating and business locations spanning North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Learn more at www.westrock.com.