Mar 25, 2005. /Lesprom Network/. In April, Carter Holt Harvey (“CHH”) will be one of the first companies in the region to report financial results under IFRS. There are a number of factors in the company’s first quarter’s results, mostly IFRS related, that make it appropriate to update the market on the company’s expectations regarding the result. The current forecast for the March 2005 quarter under IFRS is for Operating profit in the range of NZ$45 to NZ$50 million (US$32.1 - US$32.1 million). This compares with NZ$77 million (US$54 million) for the same quarter in 2004. In addition, there is expected to be an increase in Profit for the value of the forest asset of NZ$90 to NZ$100 million (US$64 – US$71 million), increasing the value to NZ$1.555 to NZ$1.565 billion (US$1.109 – US$1.116 billion). The key factors affecting CHH’s Operating profit result are the requirement to take the full impact of maintenance shuts during the quarter under IFRS, the cessation of goodwill amortisation and softness in demand for wood products, particularly in Australia. Demand in the residential building sector is yet to pick up after the traditionally slow Christmas holiday period. The outlook is for an improvement in market conditions in the second half of the year. The company is taking a number of steps to improve productivity in its wood products business in response to the market conditions. Overall the company is expecting its underlying performance for 2005 to be in line with consensus. The forest asset is revalued quarterly under IFRS, taking into account changes in average price during the quarter, as well as what has been harvested and what growth occurred over the current quarter. Price improvements during the March quarter are the main reason for the forecast increase in value of the forest asset.