Fortress Paper Ltd. reported unaudited consolidated earnings and production results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2017. For the quarter, the company reported operating EBITDA of $0.2 million, a decrease of $7.4 million relative to the comparative prior year period and a decrease of $4.1 million over the previous quarter. The results of the third quarter of 2017 were also negatively impacted by approximately 5% lower realized sales prices, a stronger Canadian dollar relative to the US dollar and higher costs associated with the previously mentioned evaporation bottleneck which is scheduled to be permanently remediated during the fourth quarter annual planned shutdown. Sales were $65,066,000 compared to $82,148,000 a year ago. Net loss was $14,319,000 compared to net income of $20,301,000 a year ago. Adjusted net loss was $15,053,000 compared to $3,847,000 a year ago.

For the quarter, the company produced paper shipments of 1,911 tonnes compared to 2,431 tonnes a year ago.

In the fourth quarter of 2017, management expects that there will be further adjustments to EBITDA related to the production ramp up subsequent to the FSC mill restart after the auxiliary failure and related insurance recovery accrual. After the adjustment, EBITDA at Thurso is expected to slightly improve compared to the third quarter despite the planned annual shutdown in November 2017. For the last quarter of 2017, excluding the digester 5 and hemicellulose projects, the company estimates about $6 million in capital expenditure primarily at the Thurso mill, including the annual shut planned for later this month.