Sales for Ainsworth Lumber Co. Ltd. (TSX:ANS) dropped 53.9% and the company reported a net loss in its first quarter ending March 31, 2007, as prices for oriented strand board plummeted.
Sales fell to $135 million compared with $292.6 million in 2006's first quarter. Ainsworth cited a 49% drop in the price of OSB and a decline in demand from a slowing U.S. new home construction market as the main reasons for its lower sales.
The company realized a net loss of $22.8 million compared with a net profit of $22.7 million in the first quarter of 2006.
Ainsworth's share price range during the past week: between $7.60 and $8.30; 52-week high: $26.50; 52-week low: $5.05.