Discounted operations boost Weyerhaeuser's bottom line in Q4

Weyerhaeuser Company made solid progress during the fourth quarter, especially with the divestiture of its Cellulose Fibers pulp mills and printing papers business adding to its bottom line.

Net sales of $1.6 billion were up a full 26.0% from the year-ago quarter's $1.3 billion.

Meanwhile, net earnings came in at $551 million, up from $59 million in the same period last year.

Fourth quarter results include after-tax earnings of $489 million from discontinued operations, primarily consisting of gains from the divestiture of the Cellulose Fibers pulp mills and printing papers business, and net after-tax charges of $44 million for special items.

Excluding these discontinued operations, the company reported net earnings of $106 million, compared to net earnings from continuing operations before special items of $81 million for the same period last year.

For the full fiscal year, sales of $6.4 billion and net earnings of $1.01 billion compared to sales of $5.2 billion and earnings of $462 million in 2015.

"2016 was a transformational year for Weyerhaeuser. Through our merger with Plum Creek and the $2.5 billion divestiture of our Cellulose Fibers business, we became a focused timber, land and forest products company and nearly doubled the size of our timberland holdings," said Doyle Simons, president and CEO.

"In addition to completing these significant portfolio changes, we increased Adjusted EBITDA by nearly 55 percent, delivered more than $100 million of operational excellence improvements, captured significant merger synergies, and achieved the highest annual Wood Products earnings in over a decade. Finally, we returned cash to shareholders through a $2 billion share repurchase. Entering 2017, we remain strongly committed to driving industry-leading performance, continuing to capture benefits of the merger, and demonstrating disciplined capital allocation to drive superior value for shareholders."