Our Annual Integrated Report for the year ended 30 September 2025 provides an overview of how we create value through our purpose, vision and strategy.
This report reflects on key opportunities and risks in our markets, our performance against financial and non-financial objectives, and our goals and focus areas for the year ahead.
Although the report’s primary audience is our shareholders, it contains information relevant to a broad group of stakeholders. Our group and regional sustainability reports address a wider audience with more detail on stakeholder engagement and key material issues. The main content of this report is supplemented by supporting appendices.
We take a holistic approach to creating value, recognising that Sappi’s long-term sustainability depends on delivering meaningful outcomes for our stakeholders. We see value beyond delivering returns to our shareholders, and we focus on maximising every resource throughout our value chain to ensure those returns are sustainable. We recognise that our sphere of influence and impact extends beyond our mill gates.
This report considers material information relevant to our stakeholders based on extensive ongoing engagement. We assessed materiality against the backdrop of current business operations and industry trends and the global economic environment. We adopt a double materiality approach to enhance our stakeholders’ understanding of the impact of environmental and social issues on Sappi’s enterprise value and the impact of our activities on the environment and society. For a deeper understanding of the material matters that affect our business, refer here.
This report covers the period from 01 October 2024 to 30 September 2025. We aim to present material, relevant and complete information, while ensuring comparability. The issues and indicators included in this report reflect our significant economic, environmental and social impacts and factors that may substantively influence investors’ assessments and decisions.
| In determining our material matters and value creation over time, we consider the following timeframes: | ||
| Short term: | One to two years, in line with immediate risks and opportunities. | |
| Medium term: | Three to five years, in line with management accounting’s five-year financial forecast plan. | |
| Long term: | Five to 30 years, considering the nature of our mill operations and capital investments for long-life assets, Sappi Forests’ research planning horizons in response to climate change and the EU’s plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. | |
Our reporting boundary is critical to our materiality determination process. Our reporting boundary includes all our operations (refer to Where we operate) and considers risks and opportunities beyond our financial reporting boundary that may significantly affect our ability to create value. These include material matters arising from our operating context, strategy, stakeholder issues, opportunities, risk management processes and SDG commitments, among others.
Our Annual Integrated Report boundary
We obtained limited external assurance on selected sustainability key performance indicators (KPIs) in our 2025 Sappi Group Sustainability Report www.sappi.com/2025GSDR, which includes the independent practitioner’s limited assurance report. Our internal audit team verifies sustainability information by reviewing the procedures we applied to collect, measure, calculate and validate non-financial data, as well as reviewing reported information and supporting documentation.
Some of our mills are certified to the ISO 22000 food safety management standard and EN 15593 management of hygiene in the production of packaging for foodstuffs.
We are assessed in terms of the forest certification systems we use. In South Africa, an external rating agency assesses our broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) performance.
These external assessments and certifications and stakeholder interactions ensure our performance indicators are reliable, accurate and pertinent. The Social, Ethics, Transformation and Sustainability (SETS) Committee is satisfied that the sustainability information presented in this report has been provided with a reasonable degree of accuracy.
Our financial information is verified by our external auditors. For information on the combined assurance framework relevant to the disclosure in this report and the independent auditors’ report, see our group Annual Financial Statements at www.sappi.com/annual-reports.
The Sappi Limited board of directors (board) acknowledges its responsibility for ensuring the integrity of the 2025 Sappi Annual Integrated Report. To the best of its knowledge and belief, the 2025 Sappi Annual Integrated Report addresses all issues material to the group’s ability to create and preserve value in the short, medium and long term and fairly presents the group’s integrated performance and outlook.
The board believes that the 2025 Sappi Annual Integrated Report has been prepared in accordance with the IR Framework and speaks to Sappi’s use of and effect on the 4Ps (addressing value creation, preservation and erosion), which are aligned with the six capitals.
The board thus approved the 2025 Sappi Annual Integrated Report on 05 December 2025.
| Mr NL Sowazi | Mr BR Beamish | |
| Chairman | Independent | |
| Mr MA Fallon | Mr JM Lopez | |
| Independent | Independent | |
| Ms ZN Malinga | Ms B Mehlomakulu | |
| Independent | Independent | |
| Mr RJAM Renders | Mr LL von Zeuner | |
| Independent | Independent | |
| Ms E Istavridis | Mr SR Binnie | |
| Independent | Chief Executive Officer (CEO) | |
| Mr GT Pearce | ||
| Chief Financial Officer |
In line with the IR Framework, this report contains forward-looking statements that enable users to understand the challenges and uncertainties Sappi is likely to encounter in pursuing its strategy. This information is included throughout the report.
For important information relating to these forward-looking statements, refer here.