Earnings Labs

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (WFG)

Q3 2010 Earnings Call· Tue, Oct 26, 2010

$64.26

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Good morning ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the West Fraser Timber Company Limited Third Quarter 2010 Results Conference Call. During this conference call we will be making certain statements about potential future developments. These forward-looking statements are intended to provide reasonable guidance to investors, but the accuracy of these statements depends on a number of assumptions and is subject to various risks and uncertainties. Actual outcomes will depend on a number of factors that could affect the ability of the company to execute its business plan. Including those matters described under risks and uncertainties in our annual MD&A, which can be accessed on our website, through CEDAR and is supplemented by our quarterly MD&As. Accordingly, listeners should exercise caution in relying upon forward-looking statements. I would now like to turn the meeting over to Mr. Hank Ketcham, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead Mr. Ketcham.

Henry H. Ketcham

Management

Thank you, Operator, good morning and welcome to West Fraser’s Third Quarter Conference Call. Joining me today is Gerry Miller, our Executive Vice President of Finance and CFO, and several members of our senior management team. We’ve posted a summary of this presentation on our website at www.westfraser.com for those of you who would like to follow along on that. Yesterday, we reported the third quarter net earnings after discontinued operations of $45 million compared to $63 million in the previous quarter. Lower -earnings in the third quarter reflects significantly lower prices for lumber and plywood compared with the second quarter. EBITDA during the quarter was $109 million and cash provided from operations was $116 million. As a result of our strong cash generation of $410 million through the first three quarters of the year, we ended the quarter with a net debt to capital ratio of just 6%. Our strong balance sheet and cash generation has allowed us to pay down our operating line, commit to a more normalized capital program for the next 12 months of at least $150 million in our wood products division and double our quarterly cash dividend from $0.03 to $0.06. Gerry will more fully discuss the financial position of the company in a few minutes. Before that, I would like to make few comments on the company’s wood products and pulp and paper divisions. Starting with wood products, our lumber division produced EBITDA of $49 million in that quarter compared to $75 million in the second quarter. The reduction on EBITDA is primarily due to a 16% decline on SPF of lumber prices versus the second quarter and a 34% decline in Southern Yellow Pine prices. As a result of the more precipitous drop in Southern Yellow Pine prices, our U.S. lumber division…

Gerry Miller

Management

Thanks Hank and good morning everyone. For the quarter we earned $45 million after discontinued operations on sales of $707 million. EBITDA in the quarter was $109 million representing an EBITDA margin of 15%. Sales, EBITDA and earnings were lower in the quarter compared to the second quarter mainly the result of lower prices for both SPF and Southern Yellow Pine lumber. Our EBITDA and EBITDA margin this quarter, compared to the previous quarter were lower in the lumber segment, similar in our panel segment and higher in our pulp and paper segment. Our lower consolidated EBITDA and earnings compared to the second quarter are partially the result of higher selling, general administrative expenses which relate mostly to an increase in share-based compensation cost. The change in share-based compensation cost was $18 million in the quarter compared to the previous quarter and expense of $8 million in the third quarter and a recovery of $10 million in the second quarter. The higher expense in the current quarter relates to an increase in our share price which closed the quarter up 15% from the beginning of the quarter. Interest expense was slightly lower from the previous quarter as average debt levels were lower in Q3 than in Q2. Also, one of our three rating agencies, Standard & Poor’s, increased its debt rating to BB+ in September. This rating increase only marginally reduced our interest expense in Q3 as the rating change was made late in the quarter. The change will reduce the future borrowing rates and stand by charges on our operating line. In the quarter, we recorded a foreign exchange gain on a long-term debt of $11 million. The gain is a result of the strengthening of the Canadian dollar by nearly $0.035 from the beginning of the quarter to…

Henry H. Ketcham

Management

That’s it from us. Operator, we will now be ready to take questions.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. (Operator Instructions) The first question is from Richard Skidmore of Goldman Sachs, please go ahead.

Richard Skidmore-Goldman Sachs

Analyst

Henry H. Ketcham

Management

Richard Skidmore

Analyst

Henry H. Ketcham

Management

Richard Skidmore

Analyst

Henry H. Ketcham

Management

Richard Skidmore

Analyst

Operator

Operator

Pierre Lacroix - Desjardin Securities:

Henry H. Ketcham

Management

Pierre Lacroix - Desjardin Securities:

Henry H. Ketcham

Management

Pierre Lacroix - Desjardin Securities: Henry H. Ketcham: Pierre Lacroix - Desjardin Securities:

Operator

Operator

Benoit Laprade - Scotia Capital

Analyst

Henry H. Ketcham

Management

Benoit Laprade - Scotia Capital

Analyst

Henry H. Ketcham

Management

Benoit Laprade - Scotia Capital

Analyst

Operator

Operator

Richard Skidmore – Goldman Sachs:

Henry H. Ketcham

Management

Richard Skidmore – Goldman Sachs:

Henry H. Ketcham

Management

Richard Skidmore – Goldman Sachs:

Henry H. Ketcham

Management

Ted Seraphim

Analyst

Henry H. Ketcham

Management

Ted Seraphim

Analyst

Richard Skidmore – Goldman Sachs:

Ted Seraphim

Analyst

I think basically, our view of it is that the Chinese market, they really took a bit of pause through the first two months of third quarter and now they have been back much more active. So whether that will carry on for the next several months, we can’t say, but I’d say for the last 2 months or so, it’s been fairly back to normal. Richard Skidmore – Goldman Sachs: Great. Thank you.

Operator

Operator

Paul Quinn of RBC Capital Markets

Analyst

Henry H. Ketcham

Management

That is probably roughly correct. Yes. Paul Quinn – RBC Capital Markets:

Henry H. Ketcham

Management

Into Asia it’s 50% . Paul Quinn – RBC Capital Markets:

Henry H. Ketcham

Management

Ted Seraphim

Analyst

Paul Quinn – RBC Capital Markets: Okay. I guess the question, maybe you can answer in a general way, do you see the cost improvement at your kraft side continuing over the next 4 quarters?

Ted Seraphim

Analyst

Well, I think that’s our expectation. I think a big part of it is, I think you saw that in our record production and we expect that to carry on definitely. Paul Quinn – RBC Capital Markets: And just maybe a question, I guess back to you, Hank. Just on capital structure you’ve now got a squeaky-clean balance sheet once again. You’ve opened up sort of the company wallet for some CapEx expenditures, do you start to feel confident about further growth opportunities at this point?

Henry H. Ketcham

Management

I think just like probably everybody else we have no idea what the future holds in terms of the U.S. economy. So, we will continue to be, I would say, cautiously aggressive in terms of our capital spending. So our number one priority is to continue to invest in our existing operations and certainly we are interested in strategic opportunities and we just have to look at whatever comes along on an individual basis. Paul Quinn – RBC Capital Markets: Thanks guys. Henry H. Ketcham: Thank you.

Operator

Operator

(Operator instruction). There are no further question registered at this time.