Category Archives: Financial News

Kruger sent a letter to its employees recently to say the company has been falsely accused of holding back information regarding the pension formula.

On Monday, the CEP held a pair of emergency union meetings in Corner Brook to discuss the alleged discovery that the negotiated proposal to grant the company a 5 year extension to make up for a deficit in pension plans would change the benefit formula.

Bruce Randell, president of CEP Local 242, said the reduction in pensions of current employees could be as much as 25% in 2014.

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EACOM Timber Corp. is reporting an operating loss of $7.788 million on sales of $59.9 million in the first quarter of 2012.

EACOM Timber is reporting a net income attributable to shareholders of $6.3 million in the first quarter.

During the quarter, the company shipped 128 million board feet of lumber (159 million board feet in the previous quarter and 170 million board feet in the corresponding quarter of 2011) and 120,000 oven-dried metric tons of by-products (129,000 oven-dried metric tons in the previous quarter and 161,000 oven-dried metric tons in the corresponding quarter of 2011).

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Catalyst Paper has amended its proposed Plan of Arrangement under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act. The Plan as so amended will be considered by Catalyst Paper’s secured and unsecured creditors at the meetings scheduled for May 23, 2012.

“We’re pleased that over the past weeks, the various stakeholders, advisors and the company have worked diligently to craft an agreement that sizably reduces the company’s debt level,” said Kevin J. Clarke, President and Chief Executive Officer. “This agreement, with the support of creditors at the meetings on May 23, 2012, will enable Catalyst to emerge from creditor protection with improved liquidity and the capacity to return and sustain normal trade terms for the foreseeable period.”

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Under the terms of the 2006 Softwood Lumber Agreement (SLA), the trigger for a reduction in the export tax for Canadian softwood products going into the US has been reached. Starting June 1, the export tax will drop from 15% to 10% in western Canada, and to 3% from 5% for the rest of the country.

Should lumber prices continue to rise or remain firm in the next few weeks, that lower tax level will be maintained or could drop even further.

North American dimension lumber prices have been firming steadily in the past several weeks, according to trade journal Madison’s Lumber Reporter. Benchmark WSPF KD 2×4 #2&Btr reached US$304 per thousand board feet last week, a 28.3% increase over one year ago when the price was US$218, and a 9.6% increase over one month ago when that price was US$275 mfbm.

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Ainsworth Lumber Co. Ltd. has recorded net income of $0.6 million in its first quarter of 2012.

Net income from continuing operations was $0.7 million. Sales were $85.1 million, an increase of $13.6 million from the first quarter of 2011 due to an increase in volume and an increase in OSB pricing, most notably in Western Canada.

Adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter of 2012 was $10.0 million compared to adjusted EBITDA of $6.4 million in the same quarter last year.

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Catalyst Paper is blaming their negative first quarter on the impact of restructuring and reorganization expenses.

Net loss for the first quarter of 2012 is $25.6 million.

“Our first quarter was dominated by restructuring and we focused relentlessly on liquidity and cash flow management,” said Catalyst President & CEO Kevin J. Clarke. “We are continuing to work hard with stakeholders to put the necessary fundamentals in place to enable Catalyst to emerge from creditor protection as a stronger and more viable enterprise. At the same time, we are keeping our operations running smoothly. In the first quarter, we achieved production gains and an improved safety record across all mills, maintained a strong order book and reached a new competitive five-year labour agreement at our BC mills which took effect on May 1, 2012.”

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Yesterday, May 9th, the Government of Nova Scotia introduced legislation that could result in better pension benefits for the workers and pensioners of the NewPage mill in Port Hawkesbury.

“Government recognizes that buying annuities in today’s market could mean a significant loss of benefits for NewPage employees and pensioners,” said Minister of Labour and Advanced Education Marilyn More. “We are taking steps today to give these women and men an option that could result in some market recovery and some restoration of lost value.”

Within six months of a pension plan closing, its administrator prepares a financial report that compares the value of the plan’s assets with its obligations. After that report is approved by the province’s superintendent of pensions, annuities are purchased to provide plan members future pension benefits.

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Cascades Inc. is reporting improved results for its first quarter of 2012. Net earnings for the quarter were $6 million on sales of $891 million.

Commenting on the first quarter results, Alain Lemaire, President and Chief Executive Officer stated: “We announce today financial results which are a significant improvement over the previous quarter and the same period last year. This performance is below our expectations due to a low level of productivity of our Containerboard manufacturing operations. Our Tissue Papers Group continues to perform well and our Specialty Products Group shows improved results. During this past quarter, we benefited from lower recycled fibre costs and average selling prices have held for most of our products despite volatile demand. Continuing to implement our action plan, we have been particularly active with restructuring and capital allocation measures aimed at modernizing our operating units. The actions taken by our team reflect our commitment to improve profitability and efficiency in an increasingly competitive market.”

Looking ahead in the near-term, Lemaire added: “The economic environment remains difficult but seems to be gaining momentum in North America which is encouraging as we enter what have been historically our two strongest quarters of the year. We have identified and fixed certain of our operational issues which should enable operations to produce in line with usual standards. Moreover we are starting to see the benefits of the measures we have taken to improve our portfolio of assets, a good example being the Tissue Papers Group. In Europe, the economic uncertainty poses unique challenges in the short term but we believe we have the right platform to face this situation.

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Fibrek Inc. has posted a net loss of $23.2 million in its first quarter of 2012, compared with net earnings of $3.5 million in the corresponding period of 2011.

Consolidated sales reached $122.1 million, a decrease of $10.0 million when compared with sales of $132.1 million in the first quarter of 2011. This reduction is mainly attributable to lower pulp prices and an unfavourable sales mix for $20.4 million, which was partially offset by a higher sales volume for $8.5 million and a favourable exchange rate for $1.9 million.

Since September 30, 2011, Fibrek has had an increased need for liquidity given (i) the recent costs related to efforts expended by Fibrek to seek out value maximizing alternatives to the Abitibi Insider Bid, (ii) the high level of RBK pulp inventories and lower than anticipated sales which have resulted in a market-related shutdown of the Fairmont Mill, (iii) capital expenditures required in connection with Fibrek’s power generation initiatives in Saint-Félicien, and (iv) costs associated with growth and diversification opportunities, such as the interrupted tissue company acquisition.

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PRT Growing Services Ltd. has released its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2012. Forest seedlings generally take from six months to a year or more to grow, with most being grown and harvested within the calendar year. PRT’s quarterly results generally reflect only a portion of the revenue that accrues over the full crop cycle, and, accordingly, the results are best considered in an annual context.

PRT reported operating earnings of $911,000 and total comprehensive income of $193,000 for the quarter-ended March 31, 2012, compared with $1,495,000 and income of $452,000, respectively for the first quarter of 2011. The lower quarterly result primarily reflects timing of revenue recognition as forest seedling volumes and prices in PRT’s core traditional markets increased slightly.

Forestry seedling markets in western North America are continuing to benefit from growth of wood product exports to China and stabilization of the US housing market, but the effect of this on our business will not fully offset the loss of seedling volumes in certain new markets in 2012.

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