Weyerhaeuser Company has announced second-quarter earnings of US$32m, down from US$273m a year earlier.
This takes into account one-off after-tax items, including the sale of its Canadian assets, the closure of wood products facilities, a contract termination and the early extinguishment of debt which, according to Weyerhaeuser, prevented the company reporting earnings of US$104m in the quarter.
“In response to continued challenging market conditions, we managed production and costs throughout the second quarter,” said Steven Rogel, chairman, president and chief executive officer.
“In the coming quarter, we will look for ways to further reduce costs and improve performance as we face challenges produced by the continuing sluggish [US] housing market.”
According to Weyerhaeuser, higher seasonal costs and lower sales of non-strategic timberlands impacted on its business performance, with difficult market conditions for wood products also having an effect.
In the third quarter, Weyerhaeuser is expecting higher sales of non-strategic timberlands, lower log costs and higher prices for products such as OSB to help it return higher earnings.
