Earnings for 2013 include after-tax charges of $114 million for special items, primarily for a previously announced real estate impairment that was partially offset by unrelated tax adjustments. Excluding these items, the company reported full year 2013 net earnings of $654 million, or $1.14 per diluted share, compared with net earnings before special items of $316 million, or 58 cents per diluted share, for the full year 2012.
"Our vision is to grow a truly great company for our shareholders, customers and employees. In 2013, we
made initial progress toward this goal, as we doubled earnings before special items, increased our per share dividend by nearly 30 percent, announced an agreement to combine our real estate operation with TRI Pointe Homes , and acquired approximately 645,000 acres of outstanding timberlands in the Pacific Northwest through the purchase of Longview Timber ," said Doyle Simons, president and CEO. "As 2014 begins, we are relentlessly focused on driving operational excellence to fully capitalize on improving markets and deliver value to our shareholders."
For the 4Q 2013, Weyerhaeuser reported net earnings before special items of $157 million, or 27 cents per diluted share, on net sales of $2.3 billion. Including after-tax charges of $114 million for special items, the company reported net earnings of $43 million, or 7 cents per diluted share. This compares with net earnings of $143 million, or 26 cents per diluted share, on net sales of $2.0 billion for the same period last year.
Timberlands segment: Construction markets in China drove increased demand and selling prices for Western logs. Western fee harvest volumes rose due to this increased demand and a full quarter of harvest from the Longview Timber acquisition. Weyerhaeuser's average log price realizations were comparable to third quarter due to a shift in export mix and a greater proportion of domestic volume. These factors were partially offset by seasonally higher road and silviculture costs. Earnings from disposition of non-strategic timberlands decreased $3 million to $20 million in the 4Q.
Wood Products segment: 4Q sales volumes declined across all product lines due to seasonality and unusually severe winter weather. Seasonally lower oriented strand board prices were offset by higher average selling prices for lumber and engineered wood products. Log costs increased, primarily in the West, and production fell due to seasonally lower demand, severe cold weather, and planned downtime for capital projects.
Special items for the 4Q include non-cash impairment charges of $10 million related to the permanent closure of previously curtailed engineered wood products operations.
Cellulose Fibers: Average selling prices for pulp improved, maintenance expense declined and productivity increased due to fewer days of scheduled annual maintenance outages. These factors were partially offset by higher fiber costs and lower liquid packing board realizations due to mix.
Weyerhaeuser Company is one of the world's largest private owners of timberlands, began operations in 1900.