LP ends the year on a high note

Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (LP) finished the fiscal year on a high note, even if the full-year results were behind on a year-over-year level.

“Our results this quarter were the best of the year as we saw both continuing growth in housing and improved OSB pricing,” said Curt Stevens, CEO. “For the quarter, all four of our business segments were EBITDA positive with OSB improving by almost $40 million compared to the same quarter last year.”

Total net sales for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31 were $463 million, up 2% over the year. The company also managed to close a lot of the gap in terms of net loss, with a loss of $7.6 million compared to a loss of $42.9 million in the year-ago quarter.

For the year, net sales came in at $1.9 billion, down 2% year-over-year. Net loss for the year also widened from $75.4 million to $88.1 million.

The company saw the most movement in its Engineered Wood Products (EWP) segment, which sustained a sales increase of 14% in the fourth quarter.

Oriented Strand Board (OSB) was up 2% for the quarter, and Siding was flat with the year-ago fourth quarter. Meanwhile, the South America segment was down 7%.

“U.S. housing starts ended 2015 up by 11 percent over 2014 and this growth should continue, with the consensus forecast of another 14 percent increase in 2016,” continued Stevens. “Given LP’s lower inventories and what we perceive as lower channel inventories, this additional activity should lead to higher shipments and firmer pricing.”