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西方林业宣布2024年第三季度业绩
温哥华亿.C.2024年10月23日 – West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd.（"West Fraser"或"公司"）（tsx和纽交所：WFG）今天报告了2024年第三季度（"Q3-24"）的业绩。本新闻稿中所有金额均以美元表示，除非另有说明。
第三季度亮点
•销售额为$14.37亿美元，收益为$(83)百万美元，每股稀释盈利为$(1.03)
•调整后的EBITDA1 占销售额的4%，相当于6200万美元
•木材部门调整后的EBITDA1 其中包括6200万美元的出口关税支出，归因于AR5最终化
•北美工程木制品（“NA EWP”）部门调整后EBITDA1 的12100万美元
•纸浆和造纸部门调整后的EBITDA1 达到200万美元
•欧洲工程木制品（“欧洲EWP”）部门调整后的息税折旧及摊销前利润1 的100万美元
•重新购回446,460股，总价值为3500万美元
•宣布在佛罗里达Lake Butler的木材厂停产时间不定。
•季末后，使用现金偿还了到期的$30000万美元高级票据本金和应计利息
“我们产品多元化策略的好处再次在2024年第三季度显现，这一时期的特点是我们主要产品需求不均。北美的OSB、胶合板和其他工程木制品继续保持健康需求，木材部门看到SPF需求出现意外改善，而SYP市场仍然具有挑战性，部分原因是维修和翻新市场持续疲软，” 西恩·麦克拉伦（Sean McLaren）, 西方林业公司的总裁兼首席执行官说。
West Fraser团队一直在积极改善我们工厂组合的成本位置，特别是在我们的美国南方木材平台内部我们继续取得进展。我们期待继续努力执行我们的投资资本现代化工厂和降低成本的策略，帮助打造一个更具韧性的组织。我们还将继续在合适时向股东返还过剩资本，保持我们强大的资产负债表，继续使West Fraser拥有金融灵活性，以利用符合我们长期策略的机会。
1.调整后的EBITDA是一种非普遍会计准则的财务衡量指标。请参考本文件中关于该指标的“非普遍会计准则和其他特定财务指标”部分获取更多信息。
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结果概要。
第三季度销售额为14.37亿美元，相较于2024年第二季度的17.05亿美元。第三季度收入为(83)百万美元，每股稀释后(1.03)美元，相较于2024年第二季度的10500万美元，每股稀释后1.20美元。第三季度调整后的EBITDA为6200万美元，相较于2024年第二季度的27200万美元。
流动性和资本配置
现金和短期投资从2023年12月31日的90000万美元增加到2024年9月27日的99700万美元。
第三季度的资本支出为1.07亿美元。
我们在第三季度支付了2600万美元的分红派息，每股为0.32美元。
2024年2月27日，我们续订了正常课程发行者买盘（"2024 NCIB"），允许我们从2024年3月1日起至2025年2月28日买入高达3,971,380股普通股以进行注销。从2024年1月1日至2024年10月22日，总共1,487,694股股票已在前期NCIb和2024 NCIb下回购。
截至2024年10月22日，自2021年2月1日收购Norbord以来，我们通过在2021年完成大型发行购买（"SIB"），在2022年完成SIb和普通诺邦股份回购，已回购和注销了公司股票中的43,064,289股，相当于诺邦收购所发行股份的79%。
2024年10月15日，我们使用现金偿还了到期的30,000万美元高级票据本金和应计利息。
展望
市场
最近几年来作为积极推动因素的几项关键趋势预计将继续支撑北美新住宅施工需求的中长期发展。
我们北美木材、OSb板材和工程木制品的主要用途是住宅建筑、维修和翻新以及工业应用。中期内，通胀和利率期货稳定改善了住房的可负担性，大量人口进入典型的购房阶段，以及美国房屋存量老化预计将推动新的住宅建设、维修和装修支出，从而支撑了木材、胶合板和OSb的需求。长期内，大量木质建筑产品在工业和商业应用中不断增加的市场渗透率也预计将成为北美木制建筑材料需求增长的更重要来源。
根据美国人口普查局的数据，2024年9月美国住房施工的季调年化率为135万套，发放的许可证为143万套。尽管新房施工面临近期不确定性，这主要由于抵押贷款利率的水平和变化速度以及对房屋可负担性的影响；美国失业率仍处于相对较低水平，尽管北美各地区央行此前曾表示利率可能会较长时间保持在较高水平，但最近的加息周期普遍认为已经结束，因为美国央行已开始降息，而联邦基金期货表明未来短期内可能会有降息的迹象。尽管存在这些情况，如果整体经济和
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就业增长放缓或利率和抵押贷款利率走弱会对消费者信心和住房可负担性产生负面影响。
在欧洲和英国，我们在2024年继续经历着对我们的OSb产品需求略有增加，但对MDF和刨花板等板材产品的需求相对较弱。我们预计欧洲产品的需求会随着OSb作为胶合板替代品的使用增长而在长期内增长。此外，房屋存量老化支持长期的维修和翻新支出以及对我们木建筑产品的额外需求。在当前环境下，通胀似乎已经稳定，利率已经开始下降，这有利于住房需求。尽管如此，持续的地缘政治发展和之前通货膨胀压力的滞后影响可能会对英国和欧洲的板材产品短期需求产生负面影响。尽管存在这些风险因素，我们有信心能够应对需求市场并利用即将到来的长期增长机会。
今年早些时候出售了一个UKP纸浆厂和两个BCTMP纸浆厂，部分抵消了对CPP的独立控制，我们预计纸浆与造纸部门的财务影响将变得不那么重要，并且未来对我们的综合业绩贡献度将会降低。
Operations
Although the demand environment for SYP has been relatively weak year-to-date, demand for SPF has exceeded our expectations. The acquisition of Spray Lake lumber mill and reliability and capital improvement gains across our lumber mill portfolio are still expected to be more than offset by capacity reductions from recently announced permanent closures and indefinite curtailments as well as shift reductions across select lumber mills. As such, we now expect 2024 SPF shipments to moderately exceed the top end of our guidance range of 2.6 to 2.8 billion board feet while we reiterate our previously revised SYP shipments guidance of 2.5 to 2.7 billion board feet.
In our NA EWP segment, despite expectations of a typical seasonal slowdown in Q4, we now anticipate 2024 OSB shipments will be modestly higher than 2023 levels, finishing the year closer to the higher end of the guidance range of 6.3 to 6.6 billion square feet (3/8-inch basis). Start-up of the Allendale mill continues to progress and we anticipate a ramp-up period for the mill of up to three years to meet targeted production levels. We expect our overall OSB platform to be better and lower cost with a modern Allendale facility operating, and as with all our wood products operations, demand is a key input in determining our operating schedules across our manufacturing footprint. Input costs for the NA EWP business are expected to be relatively stable through 2024. However, recent sawmill curtailments across the industry continue to create chip shortages for pulp producers, which is increasing demand tension for pulp logs, the primary fibre source for OSB production.
In our Europe EWP segment, we continue to expect soft near-term demand for our panel products, with 2024 shipments of MDF, particleboard and OSB expected to be similar or slightly better than 2023 levels. For OSB, with the latter part of Q4 expected to be seasonally slow, we reiterate full year shipments guidance in the range of 0.9 to 1.1 billion square feet (3/8-inch basis). Input costs for the Europe EWP business, including energy and resin costs, are expected to stabilize in 2024 but remain elevated.
On balance, we experienced relatively stable costs for inputs across our supply chain again in Q3-24, including resins and chemicals, although labour availability and some capital equipment lead times remained challenging. We expect these trends to largely continue over the near term.
Based on our current outlook, assuming no deterioration from current market demand conditions during the year and no additional lengthening of lead times for projects underway or planned, we are narrowing the range of anticipated capital expenditures to be approximately $475 million to $525 million in 20241.
1.This is a supplementary financial measure. Refer to the “Non-GAAP and Other Specified Financial Measures” section of this document for more information on this measure.
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Management Discussion & Analysis ("MD&A")
Our Q3-24 MD&A and interim consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes are available on our website at www.westfraser.com and the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval + (“SEDAR+”) at www.sedarplus.ca and the Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval System (“EDGAR”) website at www.sec.gov/edgar under the Company’s profile.
Sustainability Report
West Fraser’s 2023 Sustainability Report is available on the Company’s website at www.westfraser.com. This report summarizes our Environmental, Social, and Governance ("ESG") performance with a focus on our people, communities and role of our products in the carbon cycle. It is aligned with the Sustainable Accounting Standards Board ("SASB"), Global Reporting Initiative ("GRI"), the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures ("TCFD") and CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project).
Risks and Uncertainties
Risk and uncertainty disclosures are included in our 2023 Annual MD&A, as updated in the disclosures in our Q3-24 MD&A, as well as in our public filings with securities regulatory authorities. See also the discussion of “Forward-Looking Statements” below.
Conference Call
West Fraser will hold an analyst conference call to discuss the Company’s Q3-24 financial and operating results on Thursday, October 24, 2024, at 8:30 a.m. Pacific Time (11:30 a.m. Eastern Time). To participate in the call, please dial: 1-888-510-2154 (toll-free North America) or 437-900-0527 (toll) or connect on the webcast. The call and an earnings presentation may also be accessed through West Fraser’s website at www.westfraser.com. Please let the operator know you wish to participate in the West Fraser conference call chaired by Mr. Sean McLaren, President and Chief Executive Officer.
Following management’s discussion of the quarterly results, investors and the analyst community will be invited to ask questions. The call will be recorded for webcasting purposes and will be available on the West Fraser website at www.westfraser.com.
About West Fraser
West Fraser is a diversified wood products company with more than 60 facilities in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe, which promotes sustainable forest practices in its operations. The Company produces lumber, engineered wood products (OSB, LVL, MDF, plywood, and particleboard), pulp, newsprint, wood chips, other residuals, and renewable energy. West Fraser's products are used in home construction, repair and remodelling, industrial applications, papers, tissue, and box materials. For more information about West Fraser, visit www.westfraser.com.
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Forward-Looking Statements
This news release includes statements and information that constitutes “forward-looking information” within the meaning of Canadian securities laws and “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of United States securities laws (collectively, “forward-looking statements”). Forward-looking statements include statements that are forward-looking or predictive in nature and are dependent upon or refer to future events or conditions. We use words such as “expects,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates,” “seeks,” “intends,” “targets,” “projects,” “forecasts,” or negative versions thereof and other similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “would,” and “could,” to identify these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements generally include statements which reflect management’s expectations regarding the operations, business, financial condition, expected financial results, performance, prospects, opportunities, priorities, targets, goals, ongoing objectives, strategies and outlook of West Fraser and its subsidiaries, as well as the outlook for North American and international economies for the current fiscal year and subsequent periods.
Forward-looking statements included in this news release include references to the following and their impact on our business:
•demand in North American and European markets for our products, including demand from new home construction, repairs and renovations and industrial and commercial applications;
•the impact of sustained elevated interest rates and inflationary pressures on mortgage rates and housing affordability;
•the anticipated growing market penetration of mass timber;
•the anticipated moderation of interest rates;
•our strategy of improving our cost position across our portfolio of mills and investing to modernize our mills;
•the anticipated continuation of relatively stable costs across our supply chain over the near term and continued challenges on labour availability and capital equipment lead times;
•operational guidance, including projected shipments and projected capital expenditures; and
•the continuation of investments in our assets and the maintenance of our financial flexibility and our low-cost position as competitive advantages.
By their nature, these forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, which contribute to the possibility that the predictions, forecasts, and other forward-looking statements will not occur. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated or implied by forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to:
•assumptions in connection with the economic and financial conditions in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Europe and globally and consequential demand for our products, including the impact of persistently weak market conditions on our ability to meet our current lumber shipment guidance, and variability of operating schedules and the impact of the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East;
•future increases in interest rates and inflation or continued sustained higher interest rates and rates of inflation could impact housing affordability and repair and remodelling demand, which could reduce demand for our products;
•global supply chain issues may result in increases to our costs and may contribute to a reduction in near-term demand for our products;
•continued governmental approvals and authorizations to access timber supply, and the impact of forest fires, infestations, environmental protection measures and actions taken by government respecting Indigenous rights, title and/or reconciliation efforts on these approvals and authorizations;
•risks inherent in our product concentration and cyclicality;
•effects of competition for logs, availability of fibre and fibre resources and product pricing pressures, including continued access to log supply and fibre resources at competitive prices and the impact of third-party certification standards; including reliance on fibre off-take agreements and third party consumers of wood chips;
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•effects of variations in the price and availability of manufacturing inputs, including energy, employee wages, resin and other input costs, and the impact of inflationary pressures on the costs of these manufacturing costs, including increases in stumpage fees and log costs;
•availability and costs of transportation services, including truck and rail services, and port facilities, and impacts on transportation services of wildfires and severe weather events, and the impact of increased energy prices on the costs of transportation services;
•the recoverability of property, plant and equipment ($3,819 million), goodwill and intangibles ($2,270 million), both as at September 27, 2024, is based on numerous key assumptions which are inherently uncertain, including production volume, product pricing, raw material input cost, production cost, terminal multiple, and discount rate. Adverse changes in these assumptions could lead to a change in financial outlook which may result in carrying amounts exceeding their recoverable amounts and as a consequence an impairment, which could have a material non-cash adverse effect on our results of operations;
•transportation constraints, including the impact of labour disruptions, may negatively impact our ability to meet projected shipment volumes;
•the timing of our planned capital investments may be delayed, the ultimate costs of these investments may be increased as a result of inflation, and the projected rates of return may not be achieved;
•various events that could disrupt operations, including natural, man-made or catastrophic events including drought, wildfires, cyber security incidents, any state of emergency and/or evacuation orders issued by governments, and ongoing relations with employees;
•risks inherent to customer dependence;
•impact of future cross border trade rulings or agreements;
•implementation of important strategic initiatives and identification, completion and integration of acquisitions;
•impact of changes to, or non-compliance with, environmental or other regulations;
•government restrictions, standards or regulations intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and our inability to achieve our SBTi commitment for the reduction of greenhouse gases as planned;
•the costs and timeline to achieve our greenhouse gas emissions objectives may be greater and take longer than anticipated;
•changes in government policy and regulation, including actions taken by the Government of British Columbia pursuant to recent amendments to forestry legislation and initiatives to defer logging of forests deemed “old growth” and the impact of these actions on our timber supply;
•impact of weather and climate change on our operations or the operations or demand of our suppliers and customers;
•ability to implement new or upgraded information technology infrastructure;
•impact of information technology service disruptions or failures;
•impact of any product liability claims in excess of insurance coverage;
•risks inherent to a capital intensive industry;
•impact of future outcomes of tax exposures;
•potential future changes in tax laws, including tax rates;
•risks associated with investigations, claims and legal, regulatory and tax proceedings covering matters which if resolved unfavourably may result in a loss to the Company;
•effects of currency exposures and exchange rate fluctuations;
•fair values of our electricity swaps may be volatile and sensitive to fluctuations in forward electricity prices and changes in government policy and regulation;
•future operating costs;
•availability of financing, bank lines, securitization programs and/or other means of liquidity;
•continued access to timber supply in the traditional territories of Indigenous Nations and our ability to work with Indigenous Nations in B.C. to secure continued fibre supply for our lumber mills through various commercial agreements and joint ventures;
•our ability to continue to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting;
•the risks and uncertainties described in the MD&A and the 2023 Annual MD&A; and
•other risks detailed from time to time in our annual information forms, annual reports, MD&A, quarterly reports and material change reports filed with and furnished to securities regulators.
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In addition, actual outcomes and results of these statements will depend on a number of factors including those matters described under “Risks and Uncertainties” in our 2023 Annual MD&A and the Q3-24 MD&A and may differ materially from those anticipated or projected. This list of important factors affecting forward‑looking statements is not exhaustive and reference should be made to the other factors discussed in public filings with securities regulatory authorities. Accordingly, readers should exercise caution in relying upon forward‑looking statements and we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward‑looking statements, whether written or oral, to reflect subsequent events or circumstances except as required by applicable securities laws.
Non-GAAP and Other Specified Financial Measures
Throughout this news release, we make reference to (i) certain non-GAAP financial measures, including Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA by segment (our “Non-GAAP Financial Measures”), and (ii) certain supplementary financial measures, including our expected capital expenditures (our “Supplementary Financial Measures”). We believe that these Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Supplementary Financial Measures (collectively, our “Non-GAAP and other specified financial measures”) are useful performance indicators for investors with regard to operating and financial performance and our financial condition. These Non-GAAP and other specified financial measures are not generally accepted financial measures under IFRS Accounting Standards and do not have standardized meanings prescribed by IFRS Accounting Standards. Investors are cautioned that none of our Non-GAAP Financial Measures should be considered as an alternative to earnings or cash flow, as determined in accordance with IFRS Accounting Standards. As there is no standardized method of calculating any of these Non-GAAP and other specified financial measures, our method of calculating each of them may differ from the methods used by other entities and, accordingly, our use of any of these Non-GAAP and other specified financial measures may not be directly comparable to similarly titled measures used by other entities. Accordingly, these Non-GAAP and other specified financial measures are intended to provide additional information and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS Accounting Standards. The reconciliation of the Non-GAAP measures used and presented by the Company to the most directly comparable measures under IFRS Accounting Standards is provided in the tables set forth below. Figures have been rounded to millions of dollars to reflect the accuracy of the underlying balances and as a result certain tables may not add due to rounding impacts.
Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA by segment
Adjusted EBITDA is defined as earnings determined in accordance with IFRS Accounting Standards adding back the following line items from the consolidated statements of earnings and comprehensive earnings: finance income or expense, tax provision or recovery, amortization, equity-based compensation, restructuring and impairment charges, and other income or expense.
Adjusted EBITDA by segment is defined as operating earnings determined for each reportable segment in accordance with IFRS adding back the following line items from the consolidated statements of earnings and comprehensive earnings for that reportable segment: amortization, equity-based compensation, and restructuring and impairment charges.
EBITDA is commonly reported and widely used by investors and lending institutions as an indicator of a company’s operating performance, ability to incur and service debt, and as a valuation metric. We calculate Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA by segment to exclude items that do not reflect our ongoing operations and that should not, in our opinion, be considered in a long-term valuation metric or included in an assessment of our ability to service or incur debt.
We believe that disclosing these measures assists readers in measuring performance relative to other entities that operate in similar industries and understanding the ongoing cash generating potential of our business to provide liquidity to fund working capital needs, service outstanding debt, fund future capital expenditures and investment
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opportunities, and pay dividends. Adjusted EBITDA is used as an additional measure to evaluate the operating and financial performance of our reportable segments.
The following tables reconcile Adjusted EBITDA to the most directly comparable IFRS measure, earnings.
Quarterly Adjusted EBITDA
($ millions)
| Q3-24 | Q2-24 | |||||||
| Earnings (loss) | $ | (83) | $ | 105 | ||||
| Finance income, net | (7) | (6) | ||||||
| Tax provision (recovery) | (26) | 34 | ||||||
| Amortization | 136 | 138 | ||||||
| Equity-based compensation | 15 | (4) | ||||||
| Restructuring and impairment charges | 18 | 5 | ||||||
| Other expense (income) | 8 | (1) | ||||||
Adjusted EBITDA | $ | 62 | $ | 272 | ||||
The following tables reconcile Adjusted EBITDA by segment to the most directly comparable IFRS measures for each of our reportable segments. We consider operating earnings to be the most directly comparable IFRS measure for Adjusted EBITDA by segment as operating earnings is the IFRS measure most used by the chief operating decision maker when evaluating segment operating performance.
Quarterly Adjusted EBITDA by segment
($ millions)
| Q3-24 | Lumber | NA EWP | Pulp & Paper | Europe EWP | Corp & Other | Total | ||||||||||||||
| Operating earnings (loss) | $ | (126) | $ | 50 | $ | (2) | $ | (11) | $ | (19) | $ | (108) | ||||||||
| Amortization | 46 | 71 | 4 | 12 | 3 | 136 | ||||||||||||||
| Equity-based compensation | — | — | — | — | 15 | 15 | ||||||||||||||
Restructuring and impairment charges | 18 | — | — | — | 1 | 18 | ||||||||||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA by segment | $ | (62) | $ | 121 | $ | 2 | $ | 1 | $ | — | $ | 62 | ||||||||
| Q2-24 | Lumber | NA EWP | Pulp & Paper | Europe EWP | Corp & Other | Total | ||||||||||||||
| Operating earnings (loss) | $ | (100) | $ | 236 | $ | — | $ | (6) | $ | 2 | $ | 132 | ||||||||
| Amortization | 49 | 71 | 4 | 12 | 3 | 138 | ||||||||||||||
| Equity-based compensation | — | — | — | — | (4) | (4) | ||||||||||||||
| Restructuring and impairment charges (reversal) | (1) | 1 | 5 | — | — | 5 | ||||||||||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA by segment | $ | (51) | $ | 308 | $ | 9 | $ | 6 | $ | 1 | $ | 272 | ||||||||
Expected capital expenditures
This measure represents our best estimate of the amount of cash outflows relating to additions to capital assets for 2024 based on our current outlook. This amount is comprised primarily of various improvement projects and
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maintenance-of-business expenditures, projects focused on optimization and automation of the manufacturing process, and projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This measure assumes no deterioration in current market conditions during the year and that we are able to proceed with our plans on time and on budget. This estimate is subject to the risks and uncertainties identified in the Company’s 2023 Annual MD&A and Q3-24 MD&A.
For More Information
Investor Contact
Robert B. Winslow, CFA
Director, Investor Relations & Corporate Development
Tel. (416) 777-4426
shareholder@westfraser.com
Media Contact
Joyce Wagenaar
Director, Communications
Tel. (604) 817-5539
media@westfraser.com
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