Boise Cascade Holdings, L.L.C. announced net income of $11.4 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2010. Included in its net income was a $25.3 million gain on the sale of the remaining 18.3 million Boise Inc. shares held by the Company, as well as $1.9 million of noncash income associated with the Company’s investment in Boise Inc.In first quarter 2010, BC holdings’ building products subsidiary, Boise Cascade, L.L.C., reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of negative $1.8 million. This compared to negative EBITDA of $31.3 million in first quarter 2009. With $86.1 million of net proceeds from the first quarter sale of Boise Inc. shares, the Company concluded the quarter with $336.1 million of cash and $303.1 million of debt.
New residential construction remained weak in the first quarter with annualized housing starts of approximately 0.62 million. However, first quarter 2010 housing starts were 17% higher than the levels experienced in the same quarter of 2009. The company continues to be challenged by the reduced demand for the products it distributes and manufactures, as U.S. housing starts remain well below the tenyear
historical trend of about 1.5 million per year.
"The first quarter of this year was stronger than the prior year, with our EWP sales volumes up just over 50% and our plywood prices up 15% compared with the first quarter of 2009. Sales in BMD rose over 16% and carried a higher gross margin primarily due to higher commodity prices during the quarter. We are encouraged by the improvement in our first quarter operating results and our strong liquidity position,"
stated Tom Carlile, CEO. The individual segment results are discussed in more detail below.´Building Materials Distribution segment sales were $389.1 million in the first quarter, up 16% from the same quarter a year ago. BMD reported $1.1 million of quarterly EBITDA, a $7.7 million improvement from first quarter 2009. The EBITDA improvement was driven primarily by higher prices for the commodity products BMD distributes.
