The company said net income for the quarter period was $50 million (€40m), or 25 cents per share, compared with $36 million, or 18 cents per share, for the same period a year ago.
However, the results are flattered by a pretax gain of $37 million from the sale of land, and analysts said that MeadWestvaco, along with its peers in the US industry, is being hit by rising energy costs, the lacklustre economy and strong competition from European competitors in areas such as coated papers.
The company posted a net loss in the full year of $6 million, although this was an improvement on 2002, when it was in the red by $389 million. Just ahead of the results chief financial officer Cynthia Niekamp and treasurer Barbara Brasier resigned from the firm citing contractual disagreements.
Revenue in the fourth quarter was $1.95 billion, up from $1.89 billion a year ago, while for 2003 as a whole sales rose 4 per cent to $7.55 billion.
In packaging, MeadWestvaco's largest business segment, operating profit for the fourth quarter was $57 million, down from $110 million in the same period of 2002. Packaging sales were $1.03 billion, just about in line with the $1 billion achieved a year earlier.
Last month, MeadWestvaco said it would eliminate about 1,000 jobs, or 3.3 per cent of its work force, and close facilities next year as part of a $500 million initiative to improve earnings.