As the forestry sector slowly crawled out of the red and into the black in 2012, B.C. companies fared better than their counterparts in Eastern Canada, according to a PwC report released today.
Earnings were down, however, when compared with 2012’s third quarter. The 10 largest Western Canadian companies had net earnings of $1.2 million in the fourth quarter, compared with $775.1 million in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Canfor and West Fraser showed strong results: Canfor posted net earnings of $24.6 million and West Fraser reported $22 million. Western Forest Products and Ainsworth posted profits of $14.6 million and $6.7 respectively, while Interfor and Conifex each showed $3.6 million losses.
Struggling specialty paper maker Catalyst Paper reported net losses of $36.7 million compared with net earnings of $688.4 million in the third quarter of 2012, which was due in large part to $688.1 million gained from a restructuring process.
Companies based in Eastern Canada had net losses of $37.4 million in 2012’s fourth quarter, compared with earnings of $14.7 million in the third quarter.
