Boise Cascade reported net income increased by more than 1000% on a year-over-year (YOY) basis in the fiscal first quarter. The company posted a net income of $149.2 million in the first quarter of 2021 compared to a net income of $12.2 million from the first quarter of 2020.
The company said that as a manufacturer and distributor, its fiscal first quarter results were favorably impacted by higher commodity wood products pricing compared to pricing during the same period a year ago. Boise Cascade reports product demand exceeded supply across commodity product lines.
For the fiscal first quarter, net sales for Boise Cascade were $1.8 billion, compared to net sales of $1.2 billion in the prior year period.
Wood product sales in the quarter increased 35% YOY to $432.3 million. The increase in sales for wood products was driven primarily by higher plywood and lumber prices, as well as higher sales volumes for I-joists, according to Boise Cascade’s quarterly earnings report. Boise Cascade reported a lower volume for plywood sales, reflecting the company’s work to optimize veneered into engineered wood products production, as well as rolling curtailments at the company;’s Elgin plywood facility.
Net income for the wood products segment increased over $90 million YOY to $97.1 million in the the fiscal first quarter. The increase in segment income was due primarily to higher plywood, lumber, and engineered wood product sales prices, and higher I-joists sales volumes.
The company’s building materials distribution segment saw net sales increase $56 YOY to $1.6 billion. Compared with the first quarter of 2020, the overall increase in sales was driven by sales volume and sales price increases of 34% and 22%, respectively. Commodity sales increased 106% YOY and sales of engineered wood products increased 21% YOY.
Net income for the building materials distribution segment increased $90.9 million on a YOY basis to $120.2 million. The increase was driven by a gross margin increase of $115.3 million, according to Boise Cascade.
“I am very proud of our associates across the company and am inspired by their tireless efforts to work safely and support the needs of our customer and supplier partners during these extraordinary market conditions,” CEO Nate Jergensen said in a prepared statement. “Their dedication and execution were key to delivering tremendous financial results in the first quarter. Our proven values have served us incredibly well as we have navigated through the pandemic and will continue to be our foundation moving forward.”
Boise, Idaho-based Boise Cascade is a producer of engineered wood products and plywood and a wholesale distributor of building products.
