West Fraser Announces First Quarter Results
(firmenpresse) - VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/25/13 -- West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. ("WFT") (TSX: WFT) today reported earnings of $67 million or $1.57 per share on sales of $863 million in the first quarter of 2013. These results compare with previous periods as follows:
Operational Results
In the quarter our lumber operations generated operating earnings of $122 million and EBITDA of $146 million. The improvement over the prior quarter reflects improved prices for SPF and SYP lumber.
The panel segment, which includes plywood, LVL and MDF, generated $14 million of operating earnings and EBITDA of $18 million in the quarter, reflecting higher plywood prices.
Pulp and paper operations generated an operating loss of $4 million in the quarter and EBITDA of $8 million. The decline from the prior quarter occurred despite the increase in pulp prices as the results were adversely affected by production issues at our NBSK mills.
Outlook
Both SPF and SYP lumber prices steadily improved throughout the quarter as we headed into the spring building season. B.C. and Alberta stumpage costs are set to increase in the next quarter but lumber productivity and cost improvements are expected to continue to improve over the next few quarters as we complete various major capital projects.
"We've been encouraged by the recovery of the U.S. housing market over the last few quarters," West Fraser's President and CEO Ted Seraphim said. "Our outlook remains cautiously optimistic for all our building products."
Management's Discussion & Analysis ("MD&A")
The Company's MD&A is available on the Company's website: and on the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval at under the Company's profile.
The Company
West Fraser is an integrated wood products company producing lumber, wood chips, LVL, MDF, plywood, pulp and newsprint. The Company has operations in western Canada and the southern United States.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains historical information, descriptions of current circumstances and statements about potential future developments. The latter, which are forward-looking statements and are included under the heading "Outlook", are presented to provide reasonable guidance to the reader but their accuracy depends on a number of assumptions and is subject to various risks and uncertainties. Actual outcomes and results will depend on a number of factors that could affect the ability of the Company to execute its business plans, including those matters described in the 2012 annual Management's Discussion & Analysis under "Risks and Uncertainties", and may differ materially from those anticipated or projected. Accordingly, readers should exercise caution in relying upon forward-looking statements and the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise them to reflect subsequent events or circumstances, except as required by applicable securities laws.
Conference Call
Investors are invited to listen to the quarterly conference call on Friday, April 26, 2013 at 8:30 a.m. Pacific Time (11:30 a.m. Eastern Time) by dialing 1-800-952-6845 (toll- free North America). The call may also be accessed through West Fraser's website at .
West Fraser shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol: "WFT".
West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd.
Notes to Condensed Consolidated Interim Financial Statements
(figures are in millions of dollars, except where indicated - unaudited)
1. Nature of operations
West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. ("West Fraser", "we", "us" or "our") is an integrated wood products company producing lumber, wood chips, LVL, MDF, plywood, pulp and newsprint with facilities in western Canada and the southern United States. Our executive office is located at 858 Beatty Street, Suite 501, Vancouver, British Columbia. West Fraser was formed by articles of amalgamation under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) and is registered in British Columbia, Canada. Our Common shares are listed for trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol WFT.
2. Basis of presentation and statement of compliance
These condensed consolidated interim financial statements have been prepared in accordance with International Accounting Standard 34 Interim Financial Reporting as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board ("IASB") and using the same accounting policies and methods of their application as the December 31, 2012 annual financial statements, except as described below. These condensed consolidated interim financial statements should be read in conjunction with our 2012 annual financial statements.
3. Changes in Accounting Policies
We have adopted the following new and revised standards, along with any consequential amendments, effective January 1, 2013. These changes were made in accordance with the applicable transitional provisions. For a description of the new and revised standards refer to note 4 of our 2012 annual financial statements.
IFRS 10 - Consolidated Financial Statements, IFRS 11 - Joint Arrangements, IFRS 12 - Disclosure of Interests in Other Entities
We assessed our consolidation conclusions and the classification of our joint arrangements and determined that the adoption of these IFRS's did not result in any changes to the accounting for our subsidiaries, investees and joint arrangements.
IFRS 13 - Fair Value Measurement
The adoption of IFRS 13 did not require any adjustments to the valuation techniques used to measure fair value and did not result in any measurement adjustments.
IAS 19 - Amendment, Employee Benefits
The effect of adopting the amended standard for the periods indicated is as follows:
There is no impact on balance sheet amounts or cash flows resulting from the amended standard.
4. Inventories
Inventories at March 31, 2013 were written down by $1 million (December 31, 2012 - $3 million; March 31, 2012 - $20 million) to reflect net realizable value being lower than cost.
5. Long-term debt and operating loans
Long-term debt
The fair value of the long-term debt is $323 million (December 31, 2012 - $313 million) based on rates available to us at the balance sheet date for long-term debt with similar terms and remaining maturities.
Operating loans
We have $530 million in revolving lines of credit which were undrawn as at March 31, 2013 (December 31, 2012 - undrawn). Deferred financing costs of $4 million are included in other assets at March 31, 2013 (December 31, 2012 - $4 million).
Our revolving lines of credit include a $500 million revolving credit facility which matures September 30, 2016, a $25 million demand line of credit dedicated to letters of credit and a $5 million demand line of credit dedicated to a jointly owned newsprint operation. Interest on the three facilities is payable at floating rates based on Prime, U.S. base, Bankers' Acceptances or LIBOR at our option. As at March 31, 2013, letters of credit in the amount of $46 million have been issued under these facilities.
The $500 million revolving credit facility, the $25 million demand line of credit and the US$300 million senior notes were secured by West Fraser's assets at March 31, 2013. In April 2013, these facilities became unsecured following a rating upgrade to investment grade from one of our external debt rating agencies. The $5 million joint operation demand line of credit is secured by that joint operation's current assets.
6. Other liabilities
7. Employee future benefits
We maintain defined benefit and defined contribution pension plans covering a majority of our employees. The defined benefit plans provide pension benefits based either on length of service or on earnings and length of service. We also provides group life insurance, medical and extended health benefits to certain employee groups.
The status of the defined benefit pension plans and other benefit plans, in aggregate, is as follows:
The significant actuarial assumptions used to determine the period-ending benefit obligations and the benefit plan expense are as follows:
The change in the discount rate on obligations and the difference between the actual rate of return and the discount rate on plan assets generated a net actuarial loss on employee future benefits, included in other comprehensive earnings, as follows:
8. Finance expense
9. Other income (expense)
10. Tax provision
The tax provision differs from the amount that would have resulted from applying the Canadian statutory income tax rates to earnings before income taxes as follows:
11. Earnings per share
Basic earnings per share is calculated based on earnings available to Common shareholders, as set out below, using the weighted average number of Common shares and Class B Common shares outstanding.
Diluted earnings per share is calculated based on earnings available to Common shareholders adjusted to remove the actual share option expense (recovery) charged to earnings and after deducting a notional charge for share option expense assuming the use of the equity settled method, as set out below. The diluted weighted average number of shares is calculated using the treasury stock method. When earnings available to Common shareholders for diluted earnings per share are greater than earnings available to Common shareholders for basic earnings per share, the calculation is anti-dilutive and diluted earnings per share are deemed to be the same as basic earnings per share.
12. Segmented information
The geographic distribution of external sales is as follows:
Contacts:
West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd.
Larry Hughes
Vice-President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer
(604) 895-2700
West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd.
Rodger Hutchinson
Vice-President, Corporate Controller
(604) 895-2700
(604) 681-6061 (FAX)
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Datum: 25.04.2013 - 15:01 Uhr
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News-ID 1220525
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