Suzano Reports Operating Cash Generation of R$3 Billion in Fourth Quarter 2020

SÃO PAULO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Suzano, a global reference in the manufacture of bioproducts developed from the cultivation of eucalyptus, announces its results for the fourth quarter of 2020 (4Q20) and for fiscal year 2020. The company reported operating cash generation of R$ 3 billion in 4Q20 and of R$11.5 billion in fiscal year 2020, which represents growth of 63% over 2019. Adjusted EBITDA, another important indicator, came to R$4 billion in the quarter and R$15 billion in the year, representing an increase of 39% compared to the prior year.

Suzano’s financial results in 2020 were supported by strong sales volume, the favorable exchange rate for exports, rigid cost controls, including the resilience in production cost, the capture of synergies and its robust cash generation capacity, despite the impacts caused by the covid-19 pandemic on the global economy and by the shift in people’s routines around the world.

“We overcame all obstacles in the year, which has been so unique for human history, with the conviction that we are even stronger than we were before the pandemic. We made progress internally by strengthening our post-merger culture and externally by significantly deleveraging, among various other advances,” said Walter Schalka, CEO of Suzano.

The company’s cash generation capacity, combined with its control of debt, led the leverage ratio (net debt/adjusted EBITDA) to decline from 4.9 times to 4.3 times in U.S. dollar in the comparison of 2020 with 2019.

Pulp sales were another highlight in the year, with Suzano selling 10.8 million tons of pulp in 2020, 15% more than in 2019. Meanwhile, paper sales fell by 6%, to 1.2 million tons. As a result, Suzano’s total sales reached 12 million tons, up 12% over 2019, and supporting the growth of 17% in net revenue in the year, to R$30.5 billion.

“The numbers confirm the resilience of Suzano’s operations. We generated cash of R$11.5 billion and were able to reduce our debt by US$1.2 billion over the course of 2020. We also reduced our inventories, which today are at the lowest level of the last five years, advanced in the sale of non-strategic assets and captured synergies in the year of R$1.3 billion (pretax), which exceeded our initial projection,” said Marcelo Bacci, CFO and IRO of Suzano.