MONTREAL — Resolute Forest Products Inc. reported a loss of US$71 million in its latest quarter compared with a profit of US$36 million a year earlier as its sales fell.

Resolute chief executive Yves Laflamme says the fourth-quarter results reflect bottom-of-the-cycle conditions in market pulp, ongoing pricing pressures in paper grades and the slow pricing recovery in lumber.

The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says the loss amounted to 79 cents US per diluted share for the quarter ended Dec. 31 compared with a profit of 38 cents per diluted share a year earlier.

Sales totalled US$668 million, down from US$932 million.

Resolute noted the fourth quarter of 2018 included sales from its Catawba facility in South Carolina and Fairmont operation in West Virginia that were sold in that period.

Excluding special items, the company reported a loss of US$53 million or 59 cents per share, compared with net income of US$4 million or four cents per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2018.