West Fraser Announces First Quarter 2022 Results

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (“West Fraser” or the “Company”) reported today the first quarter results of 2022 (“Q1 2022”). All dollar amounts in this news release are expressed in U.S. dollars unless noted otherwise.

First Quarter Highlights

• Sales of $3.110 billion and earnings of $1,090 million, or $10.25 per diluted share
• Adjusted EBITDA of $1,592 million, representing 51% of sales
• Lumber segment Adjusted EBITDA of $796 million
• North America Engineered Wood Products (“NA EWP”) segment Adjusted EBITDA of $730 million
• Pulp & Paper segment Adjusted EBITDA of negative $15 million
• Europe Engineered Wood Products (“Europe EWP”) segment Adjusted EBITDA of $78 million

“Despite a number of ongoing challenges, we posted strong results in the first quarter of 2022,” said Ray Ferris, West Fraser’s President & CEO. “We continued to manage significant transportation challenges and the resulting mill disruptions that commenced late last year in B.C. and that were exacerbated in the first quarter by the typical transportation issues posed by Canadian winters. These near-term constraints to North American supply were offset by continued strong demand for our products.”

“While we continue to monitor rising mortgage rates and the potential risk to demand for new home construction and our wood building products, fundamentals for housing and repair and remodelling activity appear favourable. I expect our team will continue to be agile and creative as we navigate our supply challenges and the evolving requirements of our customers.”

Results Summary

First quarter sales were $3.110 billion, compared to $2.038 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021. First quarter earnings were $1,090 million, or $10.25 per diluted share, compared to $334 million, or $3.13 per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2021. First quarter Adjusted EBITDA was $1,592 million compared to $615 million in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Liquidity and Capital Allocation

Cash and short-term investments increased to $1.816 billion at March 31, 2022 from $1.568 billion at December 31, 2021.

Capital expenditures in the first quarter were $93 million.

We paid $21 million of dividends in the first quarter and announced an increase to our quarterly dividend for the dividend to be paid in the second quarter, raising it to $0.25 per share from $0.20 per share.

In the first quarter of 2022, we repurchased approximately 2.574 million shares under our Normal Course Issuer Bids (“NCIB”) for aggregate consideration of $233 million. As of April 28, 2022, approximately 3.994 million shares have been repurchased under the current NCIB, leaving approximately 6.200 million shares available to purchase at our discretion until the expiry of the NCIB.

On April 26, 2022, we commenced a substantial issuer bid (“SIB”) pursuant to which the Company has offered to purchase from shareholders for cancellation up to $1.25 billion of its outstanding common shares. The SIB will proceed by way of a “modified Dutch auction” procedure with a tender price range from $80.00 to $95.00 per share. The SIB will expire on June 2, 2022, unless extended or withdrawn.

Outlook

Markets

The most significant uses for our North America lumber, OSB and wood panel products are residential construction, repair and remodelling and industrial applications. Historically low mortgage rates, low volumes of homes available for resale and increased acceptance and practice of remote working appear to be positively influencing the demand for new home construction in North America. However, interest rates have been trending higher in early 2022 and should they continue to do so, housing affordability may be impacted, which could reduce demand for new home construction and our wood building products. An aging housing stock and repair and renovation spending is expected to continue to support lumber, plywood and OSB demand. Over the medium to long term, growing market penetration of mass timber in industrial and commercial applications is also expected to support demand growth for wood building products.

The demand for our European products is expected to remain robust as demand for OSB as an alternative to plywood in Europe continues to grow. An aging European housing stock is also expected to support repair and renovation spending, supporting growing demand for our wood building products. Recent geopolitical developments in Ukraine have caused inflationary price pressures in regional energy markets, which are expected to raise the cost of production within our European operations.

Operations

Given the extent of the transportation challenges experienced in Western Canada thus far in 2022, which have been more acute and of longer duration than anticipated, we are reducing our SPF lumber shipment expectations for 2022. We now anticipate SPF shipments to be approximately 2.8 to 3.0 billion board feet, down from our original outlook of 3.0 to 3.2 billion board feet. We reiterate expectations for our 2022 SYP shipments to be approximately 3.0 to 3.2 billion board feet.

In our NA EWP segment, while transportation and logistics constraints in western Canada and Ontario have been more challenging than previously anticipated, we still expect OSB shipments in 2022 to be approximately 6.1 to 6.4 billion square feet (3/8-inch basis). However, we now expect input costs for the NA EWP business to increase more significantly than originally anticipated, due to higher energy costs and Canadian pulp log costs that are linked to the price of OSB.

In our Europe EWP segment we reiterate expectations for OSB shipments to be approximately 1.1 to 1.3 billion square feet (3/8-inch basis) in 2022. However, input costs for the Europe EWP business are now expected to increase more significantly, due primarily to higher energy costs.

Inflationary cost pressures and availability constraints for labour, transportation, raw materials such as resin and chemicals, and energy are expected to remain elevated for the balance of 2022. Based on our current outlook, assuming no deterioration in market conditions during the year and that there is no additional lengthening of lead times for projects underway or planned, we continue to anticipate that we will incur capital expenditures of approximately $500 to $600 million in 2022.

MD&A

Our Q1 2022 MD&A and interim consolidated financial statements and the related notes are available on our website at www.westfraser.com and the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (“SEDAR”) at www.sedar.com and the Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval System (“EDGAR”) website at www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml under the Company’s profile.

Sustainability Report

West Fraser’s full Sustainability Report is available on the Company’s website at www.westfraser.com. This report reviews the Company’s key Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) topics, opportunities and performance and includes information aligned with the Sustainable Accounting Standards Board (SASB), Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), and the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Disclosures (TFCD).

For the complete press release, click here.

About West Fraser

West Fraser is a diversified wood products company with more than 60 facilities in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe. From responsibly sourced and sustainably managed forest resources, the Company produces lumber, engineered wood products (OSB, LVL, MDF, plywood, and particleboard), pulp, newsprint, wood chips, other residuals, and renewable energy. West Fraser’s products are used in home construction, repair and remodelling, industrial applications, papers, tissue, and box materials.

Contact:

Robert B. Winslow – Director, Investor Relations & Corporate Development – shareholder@westfraser.com – (416) 777-4426

Source: West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd.