Louisiana-Pacific sales up 20%
Louisiana-Pacific Corp., the Nashville, Tenn.-based lumber and building products manufacturer, reported third quarter 2017 net sales of $718 million, a 20% gain over net sales of $596 million in the same quarter of 2016.
The manufacturer also reported a net income from continuing operations of $111 million, nearly double a net income from continuing operations of $66 million in the third quarter a year ago. Overall earnings for the quarter were $110 million from $65.6 million in the same period last year.
“We had our strongest third quarter performance in 12 years,” said Brad Southern, LP CEO. “The key drivers to our earnings improvement for the quarter were OSB and siding pricing, as well as LP product mix and an increase in volume.”
LP’s oriented strand board segment reported net sales of $351 million, a $69 million increase from $282 million of net sales in the third quarter of 2016. For the third quarter of 2017, the OSB segment reported an operating income of $126 million compared to $67 million in the third quarter of 2016. For the third quarter of 2017, sales volumes were down slightly with the same quarter of 2016 and sales prices increased by 29 percent, the company said.
The company’s siding segment reported net sales of $226 million in the third quarter of 2017, an increase of $31 million from $195 million in the year-ago third quarter. For the third quarter, the siding segment reported operating income of $53 million compared to $35 million in the year-ago quarter.
The engineered wood products segment is comprised of I-Joist (IJ), Laminated Veneer Lumber and Laminated Strand Lumber (LVL and LSL) and reported net sales of $98 million in the third quarter of 2017, up 22 percent from the year-ago quarter. Operating income increased to $6 million for the third quarter of 2017 compared to a break even in the third quarter of 2016.
“We continue to be optimistic about the housing recovery and believe the upward trend in single family starts will continue,” Southern said. “As we move forward, we remain committed to and focused on growing our specialty products and improving operating margins in our commodity businesses.”