we implemented $131.5 million of capital projects at our mills, primarily to increase production and operational efficiency, reduce costs and increase electricity and chemical sales. Such capital expenditures included improvements to the bale line and a turpentine extraction project at our Celgar mill, the planer line replacement project at our Friesau mill, the completion of wastewater improvement projects at our German pulp mills, and large maintenance projects at the MPR mill;

our total revenues increased by approximately 11% to $1,624.4 million from $1,457.7 million in 2018 primarily due to the inclusion of the results of MPR for a full year and higher pulp and energy sales volumes partially offset by lower sale realizations;

we generated Operating EBITDA of $210.4 million compared to $364.6 million in 2018, despite average NBSK pulp sales realizations falling$158/air-dried metric tonne (“ADMT”), or 19% from$821/ADMT to $663/ADMT;

we believe our EBITDA per tonne of pulp production was higher than most of our competitors;

our pulp segment unit cash production cost decreased by $53/ADMT, or 10% in 2019 to $489/ADMT compared to $542/ADMT in 2018;

we had pulp production of approximately 2.0 million ADMTs compared to approximately 1.5 million ADMTs in 2018 and lumber production of 414.7 MMfbm compared to approximately 398.7 MMfbm in 2018; and

we sold 906,331 MWh of renewable energy, compared to 701,507 MWh in 2018. Energy and chemical production and sales are key revenue sources for us, and our mills’ ability and capacity to produce or sell surplus power or chemicals provides us with an advantage over our competitors with older mills who may not have such equipment or capacity.

we integrated the operations of MPR into our pulp segment, which we acquired in December 2018 for $345 million, by merging its sales and financial operations with our existing business and incorporating the mill’s operating personnel into our global operating management group and operating management system in order to achieve best practices and superior performance for all of our facilities;

we continued the Phase II expansion and optimization project at the Friesau mill, which is designed to among other things, increase annual lumber production capacity to approximately 750MMfbm, improve lumber grade output and lumber capacity and increase efficiency and is expected to be substantially completed in 2020;

we introduced professional management into our sandalwood operations in Australia, which we acquired in 2018, by hiring a new Managing Director and other key personnel in preparation for increased sales and harvesting activities over time;

over the past three years, we have generated average annual return on assets of 4.6% despite 2019 being a difficult year overall where we had a net loss of $9.6 million, compared to net income of $128.6 million in 2018; and

over the past three years, we have generated a “Total Shareholder Return” of 20.4% despite the recent pulp price decline which has negatively impacted pulp producers including ourselves.

we issued $200 million of additional 7.375% senior notes due 2025, the proceeds of which were used for general corporate purposes and to redeem our remaining $100 million of 7.750% senior notes due 2022;

we primarily used cash to repay $58.4 million of revolving credit facilities;

we paid dividends of $35.3 million;

we received $6.5 million of government grants primarily to finance greenhouse gas reduction capital projects at the MPR mill; and

as of December 31, we had approximately $351.1 million in cash and cash equivalents and approximately $287.2 million available under our revolving credit facilities.

achieved improved safety performance including reducing our Total Recordable Incident Rate to 2.79 from 2.86 in 2018;

reduced the number of medical cases to eight from nine in 2018 despite the significant increase in the number of employees and the expansion of our facilities in 2019 as we work to try to reduce this type of occurrence to zero;

enhanced our environmental tracking, measuring and reporting system for both water and air parameters at all of our facilities;

spent considerable time with our stakeholders including governments and First Nations to expand our relationships in all areas of our business;

implemented a talent development program for our senior executives;

continued the renewal of our Board and added four new independent Board members over the past three years, broadening the Board’s diversity and experience; and

increased our focus on sustainability including with improved sustainability management, goal setting and recording capabilities that will be communicated with stakeholders to ensure proper acknowledgment of our sustainability accomplishments and initiatives.

Attract and retain top talent by competing effectively for high quality individuals whose efforts and judgments are vital to our continued success;

Closely align compensation with our strategy and commitment to shareholder value creation by focusing on long-term sustainable growth;

Create an environment in which our executives are motivated to achieve and maintain superior performance levels and goals consistent with our overall business strategy;

Reward and compensate our executives for their contribution to our overall success and for their individual performance during the relevant fiscal year;

Align the interests of our executives with the long-term interests of our Shareholders; and

Given the cyclicality of the industry in which we operate, provide the Board the discretion to modify compensation targets to meet business needs at the time.