Weyerhaeuser posts loss for quarter.Byline: From Register-Guard and news service reports Weyerhaeuser Co., one of the nation's largest forest products companies, on Friday posted a loss for the fourth quarter on hefty charges, as revenue rose slightly. The company, based in Federal Way, Wash., lost $211 million, or 86 cents per share Cents per share The amount of a mutual fund's dividend or capital gains distributions that a shareholder will receive for each share owned. , during the October-December quarter, compared with a profit of $199 million, or 82 cents per share, in the same period in 2004. Revenue, however, grew 4 percent to $5.9 billion from $5.7 billion. The company's financial performance is important locally because 1,800 people work at Weyerhaeuser operations in Lane County, including two saw mills, two timberland operations, a container board mill, an engineered lumber lumber, term for timber that has been cut into boards for use as a building material. The major steps in producing lumber involve logging (the felling and preparation of timber for shipment to sawmills), sawing the logs into boards, grading the boards according to facility and a hardwoods plant. Worldwide, the company employs 53,600. In the latest quarter, Weyerhaeuser's total charges of $505 million - or $2.05 per share - were related to facility closures, asset impairment Impairment 1. A reduction in a company's stated capital. 2. The total capital that is less than the par value of the company's capital stock. Notes: 1. This is usually reduced because of poorly estimated losses or gains. 2. , a litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. settlement and early debt extinguishment The destruction or cancellation of a right, a power, a contract, or an estate. Extinguishment is sometimes confused with merger, though there is a clear distinction between them. . Those charges were partially offset by one-time gains of $62 million, or 25 cents per share, on an asset sale and an accounting change. Chief Executive Officer Steve Rogel sought to reassure re·as·sure tr.v. re·as·sured, re·as·sur·ing, re·as·sures 1. To restore confidence to. 2. To assure again. 3. To reinsure. investors that the company was determined to respond aggressively, and warned that it wouldn't hesitate to close or sell operations that don't make the cut. ``We know what we must do to make Weyerhaeuser a stronger company,' Rogel said in a conference call with analysts. ``We understand the need to improve shareholder returns, and the urgency on which we must act.'' Analyst Steve Chercover with D.A. Davidson said the company is dealing with less demand for its products. One issue is that more documents have become available electronically. Another problem is that more products are being manufactured overseas, reducing the need for packaging Weyerhaeuser creates in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . For the full year, Weyerhaeuser's earnings fell 44 percent to $733 million, or $2.98 per share, from 2004's profit of $1.3 billion, or $5.43 per share. Annual revenue edged up 3 percent to $22.6 billion from $21.9 billion. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion