CatchMark Timber Trust, Inc. reported that gains from recent timberland acquisitions and advantageous early-in-the-year timber sales helped propel strong year-over-year revenues and Adjusted EBITDA growth for the quarter endedMarch 31, 2016.
Revenues increased to$27.2 millionfor the three months endedMarch 31, 2016from$20.2 millionfor the three months endedMarch 31, 2015due to an increase in timber sales revenue of$4.4 millionand an increase in timberland sales revenue of$2.5 million.
Net loss decreased to$0.6 millionfor the three months endedMarch 31, 2016from$0.8 millionfor the three months endedMarch 31, 2015as a result of a$0.7 millionincrease in operating income offset by a$0.5 million in crease in its interest expense.
Jerry Barag, CatchMark's President and CEO, said: "During the quarter we opportunistically accelerated our annual harvest to take advantage of favorable overall pulpwood pricing in select markets, and actively managed planned sales volumes to lower risk for meeting our 2016 earnings goals. Overall, we expect sawtimber pricing to increase later in the year as improvements in the housing market lift demand and cut into inventories. The integration of recent acquisitions has boosted performance and our pipeline of new acquisitions targeting premium timberlands is robust for supporting our ongoing growth objectives.
“We are particularly pleased about the Carolinas Midlands III transaction, our single, largest acquisition since listing, which is scheduled to close in late 2Q or early 3Q. This acquisition will add nearly 52,000 acres of prime timberlands in an excellent mill market to complement and significantly expand our existingSouth Carolinaholdings."
CatchMark Timber Trust, Inc. is a self-administered and self-managed publicly traded REIT that began operations in 2007 and owns interests in approximately 428,700 acres of timberland.
