LP posts $340 million quarterly loss

Louisiana-Pacific, one of the industry’s leading producers of oriented strand board, siding and engineered wood products, reported sales of $250.2 million for its fourth fiscal quarter of 2008, a 33 percent drop from the same period in 2007. Losses for the quarter, which ended on Dec. 31, 2008, were $340 million, compared to $52 million in the fourth quarter of 2007.

For the full year, LP posted net sales of $1.37 billion, compared to $1.70 billion in fiscal 2007. The company’s net loss for 2008 was $579 million, versus $180 million in the previous year.

The company also announced it was looking at various options to increase its liquidity, including the possible financing or refinancing on transactions; the issuance of secured or unsecured debt, equity or hybrid securities; or the entry into one or more credit facilities.

In a conference call with investors and analysts, LP’s chief executive Rick Frost discussed the impact of the economic recession on company sales in Brazil, a bright spot until the fourth quarter. “Across the world nearly all the businesses became paralyzed in Q4 of 2008,” Frost said.

About half of the company’s quarterly loss, $21 million, was incurred with the start-up of a mill in Houlton, Maine, in the fourth quarter, when Louisiana-Pacific launched its new laminated strand lumber (LSL) product.