Ahead of the Bell: MeadWestvaco

Ahead of the Bell: MeadWestvaco
http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/printarticle.aspx?feed=AP&date=20070430&id=6813627

NEW YORK (AP) - Packaging company MeadWestvaco Corp. holds a meeting for shareholders on Monday, ahead of first-quarter results on Wednesday.

Analysts expect MeadWestvaco to report earnings 3 cents per share on sales of $1.55 billion, according to a Thomson Financial poll.

MeadWestvaco didn't fare too well in the fourth quarter, as profit declined 34 percent. Although pricing on its high-quality paperboard and productivity at its paperboard mills both improved, hefty restructuring charges offset results.

Elsewhere in the sector, paper company Bowater Inc. recently widened its first-quarter loss and missed Wall Street estimates by a wide margin. Bowater said weakness in newsprint demand and a seasonal slowdown in the coated paper market weighed on profit.

Bowater's results provided further evidence of weakness in newsprint demand and a seasonal slowdown in the coated paper market, analysts said.

Shares of MeadWestvaco declined 16 cents to $33.04 on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, and are up 33.5 percent since a 52-week low of $24.76, hit in August.


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