Jefferson Smurfit has been given a fillip after Smurfit Stone, its 33 per cent-owned associate, produced fourth-quarter results ahead of forecasts and Smurfit Stone chairman Mr Roger Stone gave an upbeat presentation to analysts. "It was a remarkably upbeat presentation," said one Wall Street analyst.

But it did not benefit the Smurfit share price which was four cents lower on €1.50 (£1.18) but Smurfit Stone shares were slightly higher on Nasdaq as the Irish market closed.

The US packaging sector, meanwhile, was boosted by the announcement from Tenneco that it had sold its containerboard operations for $2 billion (€1.73 billion), a move that is expected to usher in a rationalisation programme at the containerboard operations. This would benefit the sector. Mr Stone told analysts that he expected the $50 a ton rise in linerboard price to hold from February 1st and that Smurfit Stone had not encountered resistance to the price rise from customers. Mr Stone also told the analysts' presentation that he expected good figures when the industry announced its inventory levels in the first week of February.

The price rise and the industry statistics are the two key elements in Smurfit Stone's future in the short-term. Despite Mr Stone's contention that the price increase will hold from February 1st, some analysts are less confident.

February is seen as not a good month to try and impose a price increase, but analysts believe that there is now a strong possibility that the price increase will hold from March or April.

Analysts said Mr Stone had stated the remaining 21.5 per cent of Canadian newsprint producer Abitibi Consolidated was likely to be sold in the first half of this year.

Smurfit Stone sold a 3.75 per cent stake in Abitibi for $80 million last week and the remaining 21.5 per cent stake is worth over $500 million at current levels.

Analysts also interpreted Mr Stone's comments on likely interest charges as an indication that the group's timberlands are also likely to be sold in the current year. These could realise from $800 million to $1 billion and a are major element of the group's asset disposal programme.

The fourth quarter and full-year results from Smurfit Stone were seen as academic given the merger and the scale of the rationalisation in the merged group. But analysts were still happy to see fourth-quarter losses of 17 US cents per share compared to the average forecast of 28 US cents.