Sales up 3% for Boise Cascade in Q1

Boise Cascade Company enjoyed a boost of 3% to its sales in the first quarter, but took a hit in terms of net income.

The company's bottom line was $5.57 million in the three-month period ended March 31 -- down from $80.8 million in the same period last year. The company attributed last year's high income to a $68.7 million income tax benefit associated with recording net deferred tax assets after Boise Cascade converted from a limited liability corporation to a corporation.

Net sales were $767.2 million for the quarter, up from $744.9 million in the first quarter of 2013. Wood Products led the momentum with a sales gain of 9%; the Building Materials Distribution unit posted a gain of 1%.

"The first quarter presented unusually severe weather conditions in many parts of the country which reduced the demand for building materials, negatively impacted our operating costs, and, at times, disrupted rail and truck shipments to our customers," said CEO Tom Carlile. "Lower commodity wood products prices, particularly structural panels, also made the year-over-year quarterly sales and earnings comparisons challenging. However, our sales activity is picking up as we move into the second quarter and we still believe the housing recovery will continue to progress in 2014."