Earnings for the 4Q 2013 were $40 million, or $0.24 per share, on revenues of $331 million. Results for the fourth quarter of 2013 included $12 million of expenses directly related to the completion of the company’s acquisition of timberland, real estate, and subsurface resources from MeadWestvaco Corporation (MWV).
Earnings for the full year of 2014 were $214 million, or $1.21 per diluted share, on revenues of $1.48 billion. The results for 2014 include $4 million, or $0.02 per share, after-tax gains related to the MDF fire.
Earnings for the full year of 2013 were $214 million, or $1.30 per share, on revenues of $1.34 billion. Excluding the expenses associated with the acquisition mentioned above and a $4 million forest fire loss recorded in the third quarter of 2013, adjusted earnings for 2013 were $230 million, or $1.39 per share.
“A strong finish to 2014 capped off another good year for Plum Creek,” said Rick Holley, CEO. “The successful integration of the assets we purchased at the end of 2013 played an important role in our cash flow growth this year. The results from these productive, well stocked timberlands came in slightly better than our initial expectations, generating $35 million of operating income and adding $96 million of adjusted EBITDA in 2014. The acquisition was cash accretive on a per share basis by about 7%.”
“During 2014, we sold $65 million of core timberlands at attractive valuations and repurchased $50 million of stock at a compelling discount to our net asset value. We will continue to consider additional repurchases to capture compelling arbitrage opportunities. Plum Creek’s ability to perform well in this slowly recovering market highlights the benefit of our geographic diversity and our disciplined operating approach,” continued Holley.
The company expects U.S. residential construction activity to grow at a measured pace during 2015, resulting in approximately 1.1 million housing starts.
Harvest volumes and harvest mix are expected to be similar to 2014 as the company plans to harvest between 19 and 20 million tons of timber in the upcoming year.
Lumber, specialty plywood and MDF markets are expected to remain strong in 2015. Excluding any impacts from the 2014 MDF fire, Manufacturing segment earnings are expected to be similar to 2014’s results.
