Canfor reports 4Q loss of $229.8 million, compared with $237 million a year ago

Feb 20, 2009. /Lesprom Network/. Canfor Corp. said it lost $229.8 million in its most recent quarter, compared with a loss of $237 million a year ago, and warned of even tougher times ahead. The company said the loss amounted to $1.61 per share for the three months ended December 31, compared with a loss of $1.66 per share a year ago. Sales in the quarter totalled $588.7 million, down from $711 million. The quarter included several one-time items including: a $74.1-million asset-impairment charge related to the company's indefinitely idled Tackama plywood and PolarBoard oriented strand board plant; a $50.3-million loss on derivatives; and a $52.2-million foreign exchange loss on U.S.-dollar denominated debt. "Despite the deepening of the global economic downturn and its impact on our bottom line, we've taken significant actions to reduce operating costs and maintain the strength of our balance sheet," Canfor President and CEO Jim Shepard said in a statement. "Over the last 18 months, we've reduced our logging and hauling costs, increased productivity despite curtailments, disposed of non-core assets and enacted salary rollbacks and staff reductions." Shepard said that he expected conditions to be even more challenging through 2009 for all of the company's products, adding that management will remain focused on costs, inventory and cash conservation. Canfor is a leading integrated forest products company based in Vancouver, British Columbia with interests in BC, Alberta, Quebec, Washington state, and North and South Carolina. The Company is the largest producer of softwood lumber in British Columbia while also producing oriented strand board, remanufactured lumber products and specialized wood products.