West Fraser Timber Company Ltd has exceeded stock market expectations by posting a C$36m profit for the fourth quarter of 2002.
The profit, boosted by C$8.5m from discontinued operations, was up on the C$11m recorded a year earlier. Sales increased from C$364m to C$405m.
Another big lumber company, Canadian Forest Products Corporation (Canfor) is looking to sell non-core assets to improve its balance sheet. Its debt at the end of December 2002 stood at 41% of capital, with a loss of C$53m recorded in the fourth quarter.
Canfor’s chief executive David Emerson expects forestry policy changes in the spring and a possible agreement with the US in the softwood lumber dispute to lead to consolidation in the British Columbia forest products industry.
