International Paper's profit tanks on lower volumes, higher costs

Oct 26 (Reuters) - International Paper posted an 83% drop in third-quarter profit on Thursday, hurt by softening demand for its corrugated boxes and higher input costs.

Persistent inflationary pressures continue to restrain consumer spending, hurting demand for packaging products.

While supply chain disruptions have eased, the renewable fiber-based products manufacturer faced pressures from increased input costs, primarily for energy, freight and recovered fiber.

The company's total net sales fell 15% to $4.61 billion in the three months ended Sept. 30. Of this, revenue from the industrial packaging segment — which saw a 6% fall in sales volume — was at $3.78 billion.

Analysts had estimated total revenue for the company at $4.81 billion, according to LSEG data.

Peer Packaging Corp of America also reported a drop in quarterly revenue and profit on lower volumes earlier this week, and said it expects pricing to remain weak in its packaging and paper segments in the fourth quarter.

Tennessee-based International Paper posted adjusted operating earnings per share of 64 cents for the quarter, compared with analysts' expectations of 58 cents per share.

(Reporting by Aatrayee Chatterjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)