Boise Cascade Company Reports Third Quarter 2022 Results

Boise Cascade Company (“Boise Cascade,” the “Company,” “we,” or “our”) today reported net income of $219.6 million, or $5.52 per share, on sales of $2.2 billion for the third quarter ended September 30, 2022, compared with net income of $91.7 million, or $2.31 per share, on sales of $1.9 billion for the third quarter ended September 30, 2021.

“The outstanding work of associates across our organization was evident as both businesses reported strong financial results during the third quarter despite the softening economic landscape. In addition, we have made good progress on successfully integrating the recently acquired Coastal operations as we work to expand our EWP capacity and further leverage our integrated business model,” commented Nate Jorgensen, CEO. “We also recently rewarded our shareholders with an increase in our quarterly dividend and an additional special dividend without sacrificing significant balance sheet flexibility. We remain committed to supporting our vendor and customer partners and executing our key strategic priorities as we navigate market uncertainties and clear signals of weaker near-term demand for new residential construction.”

Third Quarter 2022 Highlights

		3Q 2022		3Q 2021		% change
		(in thousands, except per-share data and percentages)
Consolidated Results
Sales		$	2,154,647			$	1,879,451			15	%
Net income			219,587				91,699			139	%
Net income per common share – diluted			5.52				2.31			139	%
Adjusted EBITDA 1			326,029				149,313			118	%
Segment Results
Wood Products sales		$	595,320			$	497,316			20	%
Wood Products income			155,972				122,056			28	%
Wood Products EBITDA 1			177,257				135,970			30	%
Building Materials Distribution sales			1,956,802				1,721,244			14	%
Building Materials Distribution income			154,436				16,565			832	%
Building Materials Distribution EBITDA 1			161,196				22,578			614	%

¹ For reconciliations of non-GAAP measures, see summary notes at the end of this press release.

In third quarter 2022, total U.S. housing starts decreased 7%, driven by a decrease in single-family housing starts of 18% compared to the same period in 2021. On a year-to-date basis through September 2022, total housing starts increased 1%, driven by an increase in multi-family housing starts compared to the same period in 2021. However, single-family housing starts decreased 6% when compared with the same period in 2021. Single-family housing starts are the key demand driver for our sales.

Wood Products

Wood Products’ sales, including sales to Building Materials Distribution (BMD), increased $98.0 million, or 20%, to $595.3 million for the three months ended September 30, 2022, from $497.3 million for the three months ended September 30, 2021. The increase in sales was driven primarily by higher sales prices for I-joists and LVL (collectively referred to as EWP) and higher sales volumes for LVL. In addition, plywood sales volumes increased due to our acquisition of Coastal Plywood and its plywood manufacturing operations on July 25, 2022 (the Acquisition). These increases were offset partially by lower plywood sales prices and lower sales volumes for I-joists.

Comparative average net selling prices and sales volume changes for EWP and plywood are as follows:

		3Q 2022 vs. 3Q 2021		3Q 2022 vs. 2Q 2022
Average Net Selling Prices
LVL		52%		19%
I-joists		54%		18%
Plywood		(15)%		(16)%
Sales Volumes
LVL		12%		13%
I-joists		(15)%		(7)%
Plywood		5%		17%

Wood Products’ segment income increased $33.9 million to $156.0 million for the three months ended September 30, 2022, from $122.1 million for the three months ended September 30, 2021. The increase in segment income was due primarily to higher EWP sales prices, offset partially by lower plywood sales prices, as well as higher manufacturing costs. In addition, the Acquisition was the primary driver of the increase in depreciation and amortization and general and administrative expenses.

Building Materials Distribution

BMD’s sales increased $235.6 million, or 14%, to $1,956.8 million for the three months ended September 30, 2022, from $1,721.2 million for the three months ended September 30, 2021. Compared with the same quarter in the prior year, the overall increase in sales was driven by a sales price increase of 15%, offset partially by a sales volume decrease of 1%. By product line, commodity sales increased 1%, general line product sales increased 19%, and sales of EWP (substantially all of which are sourced through our Wood Products segment) increased 33%.

BMD segment income increased $137.8 million to $154.4 million for the three months ended September 30, 2022, from $16.6 million in the comparative prior year quarter. The increase in segment income was driven primarily by a gross margin increase of $166.1 million, resulting primarily from margin improvements on commodity products. In addition, selling and distribution expenses increased $25.7 million.

Balance Sheet and Liquidity

Boise Cascade ended third quarter 2022 with $867.1 million of cash and cash equivalents and $396.2 million of undrawn committed bank line availability, for total available liquidity of $1,263.2 million. The Company had $444.2 million of outstanding debt at September 30, 2022.

On September 9, 2022, we entered into the Eighth Amendment to the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement (the Amendment) related to the Company’s senior secured asset-based revolving credit facility and term loan. The Amendment increases the maximum amount available for revolving loans from $350 million to $400 million, extends the maturity date of the agreement, and replaced the LIBOR rate with Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR). The term loan remains at $50.0 million. For additional information regarding the Amendment, see our Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2022, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Excluding acquisitions, we expect capital expenditures in 2022 to total approximately $100 million to $120 million. Our 2022 capital expenditures range includes funding for our BMD organic expansions in Ohio, Kentucky, and Minnesota, replacement of a dryer at our Chester, South Carolina, veneer and plywood plant, and post-acquisition veneer equipment related spending at our Chapman, Alabama facility. We expect capital expenditures in 2023 to total approximately $120 million to $140 million. These levels of capital expenditures could increase or decrease as a result of several factors, including acquisitions, efforts to further accelerate organic growth, exercise of lease purchase options, our financial results, future economic conditions, availability of engineering and construction resources, and timing and availability of equipment purchases.

Dividends

On October 27, 2022, our board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share on our common stock, as well as a special dividend of $1.00 per share on our common stock, both payable on December 15, 2022, to stockholders of record on December 1, 2022.

Future dividend declarations, including amount per share, record date and payment date, will be made at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend upon, among other things, legal capital requirements and surplus, our future operations and earnings, general financial condition, material cash requirements, restrictions imposed by our asset-based credit facility and the indenture governing our senior notes, applicable laws, and other factors that our board of directors may deem relevant.

Outlook

Demand for the products we manufacture, as well as the products we purchase and distribute, is correlated with new residential construction, residential repair-and-remodeling activity and light commercial construction. Consensus forecasts for 2022 single- and multi-family housing starts in the U.S are between 1.5 million and 1.6 million units, or essentially flat compared to 2021. In addition, the age of U.S. housing stock and elevated levels of homeowner equity provide a favorable backdrop for repair-and-remodel spending. However, continued actions by the Federal Reserve to increase interest rates to combat high levels of inflation have significantly increased mortgage rates and created a great deal of uncertainty broadly across the U.S. economy. As such, due to home affordability constraints and a weakening economy, the pace of new residential construction has slowed and we expect demand to continue to decline for the remainder of 2022 and into 2023. Consensus forecasts for 2023 single- and multi-family housing starts in the U.S. are estimated to be 15% to 20% below 2022 levels. While likely tempered by an economic slowdown, we anticipate the primary drivers of repair-and-remodeling activity to continue to be supportive of homeowners’ further investment in their residences.

As a manufacturer of certain commodity products, we have sales and profitability exposure to declines in commodity product prices and rising input costs. Our distribution business purchases and resells a broad mix of commodity products with periods of increasing prices providing the opportunity for higher sales and increased margins, while declining price environments expose us to declines in sales and profitability. We expect future commodity product pricing and commodity input costs to be volatile in response to economic uncertainties, industry operating rates, transportation constraints or disruptions, net import and export activity, inventory levels in various distribution channels, and seasonal demand patterns. In addition, we expect future price erosion on our EWP and general line products as economic activity slows and demand weakens for new residential construction.

About Boise Cascade

Boise Cascade Company is one of the largest producers of engineered wood products and plywood in North America and a leading U.S. wholesale distributor of building products. For more information, please visit the Company’s website at www.bc.com.

Contact:

Kelly Hibbs – Investor Relations Contact – (208) 384-3638

Source: Boise Cascade Company