West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. Q2 2010 Earnings

July 23, 2010 by timbercommunity

West Fraser Timber benefits from strong lumber prices in first half of 2010
West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (WFTBF) Q2 2010 Earnings Call July 23, 2010 11:30. Earnings for the second quarter were $63 million compared to $20 million in the first quarter of 2010, and a loss of $39 million in the second quarter of 2009. The significant improvement in the results can primarily be attributed to relatively strong pricing for virtually all of the products in the first half of the year.
 

EBITDA was a $151 million which resulted in a 20% EBITDA margin. All segments contributed to the earnings in the quarter. They ran the Canadian saw mills at 98% of capacity throughout the first half of the year, allowing us to benefit fully from the short-but strong rally in lumber prices in the past two quarters. West Fraser is the only publically-traded Canadian forest product company that has paid consecutively-quarterly dividends since they went public in 1986. 

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. has profited from a rally in lumber prices, the company is warning that prices have dropped due to a slow recovery in the U.S. housing market and Chinese demand for pulp is weakening.