Boise Cascade Company Reports First Quarter 2024 Results

Boise Cascade Company ("Boise Cascade," the "Company," "we," or "our") (NYSE: BCC) today reported net income of $104.1 million, or $2.61 per share, on sales of $1.6 billion for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024, compared with net income of $96.7 million, or $2.43 per share, on sales of $1.5 billion for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023.

"I am pleased with the strong financial results that our team delivered during the first quarter. As expected, it was a period influenced by seasonal factors and the relative strength of new single-family starts," stated Nate Jorgensen, CEO. "As we enter the second quarter, economic and geopolitical uncertainties are prevalent, and the extent of the potential impact on the broader economy and residential construction activity is unknown. Despite the near-term environment, an undersupply of single-family homes remains, and I have great confidence in our team as we stay focused on the effective deployment of our outstanding balance sheet in support of our stakeholders."

In first quarter 2024, total U.S. housing starts and single-family housing starts increased 1% and 27%, respectively, compared to the same period in 2023. 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 $31.5 million, or 7%, to $468.9 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024, from $437.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023. The increase in sales was driven by higher sales volumes for I-joists and LVL (collectively referred to as EWP), as well as higher plywood sales prices. These increases were offset partially by decreased sales prices for EWP, as well as lower plywood sales volumes and other sales related to residual byproducts and lumber. Wood Products' segment income increased $1.8 million to $71.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024, from $69.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023. The increase in segment income was due primarily to higher EWP sales volumes and higher plywood sales prices. These increases in segment income were offset partially by lower EWP prices and higher wood fiber costs.

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

Building Materials Distribution

BMD's sales increased $125.8 million, or 9%, to $1,505.0 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024, from $1,379.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023. Compared with the same quarter in the prior year, the increase in sales was driven by sales volume increases of 12%, offset partially by sales price decreases of 3%. By product line, commodity sales increased 1%, general line product sales increased 16%, and EWP sales (substantially all of which are sourced through our Wood Products segment) increased 12%. BMD segment income increased $2.8 million to $72.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024, from $69.7 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023. The increase in segment income was driven by a gross margin increase of $22.9 million, resulting primarily from higher sales volumes and improved margins on general line and commodity products. The gross margin improvement was offset partially by increased selling and distribution expenses and depreciation and amortization expense of $16.5 million and $4.0 million, respectively.

Balance Sheet and Liquidity

Boise Cascade ended first quarter 2024 with $890.2 million of cash and cash equivalents and $395.7 million of undrawn committed bank line availability, for total available liquidity of $1,286.0 million. The Company had $445.5 million of outstanding debt at March 31, 2024.

Capital Allocation

We expect capital expenditures in 2024, excluding potential acquisition spending, to total approximately $250 million to $270 million.

On May 2, 2024, our board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share on our common stock, payable on June 17, 2024, to stockholders of record on June 3, 2024.

For the three months ended March 31, 2024, the Company paid $27.0 million for the repurchase of 205,938 shares of our common stock. As of March 31, 2024, approximately 1.7 million shares were available for repurchase under our existing share repurchase program.

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. Residential construction, particularly new single-family construction, is the key demand driver for the products we manufacture and distribute. Current industry forecasts for 2024 U.S. housing starts are generally consistent with actual housing starts of 1.42 million in 2023, as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau. Home affordability remains a challenge for many consumers due to the cost of housing combined with elevated mortgage rates. However, with low unemployment and an undersupply of existing housing stock available for sale, new residential construction is expected to remain an important source of supply for homebuyers. Recent pressures on multi-family starts are expected to continue due to increased capital costs for developers combined with cooling rents and elevated supply. Regarding home improvement spending, the age of U.S. housing stock and elevated levels of homeowner equity have provided a favorable backdrop for repair-and-remodel spending. In 2023, year-over-year growth rates in renovation spending moderated due to economic uncertainty and higher borrowing costs. While home improvement spending is expected to remain healthy compared to history, recent industry forecasts project mid-single-digit declines in 2024. Ultimately, macroeconomic factors, the level and expectations for mortgage rates, home affordability, home equity levels, and other factors will likely influence the near-term demand environment for the products we manufacture and distribute.

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 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. Future product pricing, particularly commodity products pricing and input costs, may be volatile in response to economic uncertainties, industry operating rates, supply-related disruptions, transportation constraints or disruptions, net import and export activity, inventory levels in various distribution channels, and seasonal demand patterns.

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.

Webcast and Conference Call

Boise Cascade will host a webcast and conference call to discuss first quarter earnings on Tuesday, May 7, 2024, at 11 a.m. Eastern.

To join the webcast, go to the Investors section of our website at www.bc.com/investors and select the Event Calendar link. Analysts and investors who wish to ask questions during the Q&A session can register for the call here.

The archived webcast will be available in the Investors section of Boise Cascade's website.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

We refer to the terms EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA in this earnings release and the accompanying Quarterly Statistical Information as supplemental measures of our performance and liquidity that are not required by or presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (GAAP). We define EBITDA as income before interest (interest expense and interest income), income taxes, and depreciation and amortization. Additionally, we disclose Adjusted EBITDA, which further adjusts EBITDA to exclude the change in fair value of interest rate swaps.

We believe EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are meaningful measures because they present a transparent view of our recurring operating performance and allow management to readily view operating trends, perform analytical comparisons, and identify strategies to improve operating performance. We also believe EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are useful to investors because they provide a means to evaluate the operating performance of our segments and our Company on an ongoing basis using criteria that are used by our management and because they are frequently used by investors and other interested parties when comparing companies in our industry that have different financing and capital structures and/or tax rates. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA, however, are not measures of our liquidity or financial performance under GAAP and should not be considered as alternatives to net income, income from operations, or any other performance measure derived in accordance with GAAP or as alternatives to cash flow from operating activities as a measure of our liquidity. The use of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA instead of net income or segment income have limitations as analytical tools, including: the inability to determine profitability; the exclusion of interest expense, interest income, and associated significant cash requirements; and the exclusion of depreciation and amortization, which represent unavoidable operating costs. Management compensates for these limitations by relying on our GAAP results. Our measures of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are not necessarily comparable to other similarly titled captions of other companies due to potential inconsistencies in the methods of calculation.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes statements about our expectations of future operational and financial performance that are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including, but not limited to, statements regarding our outlook. Statements preceded or followed by, or that otherwise include, the words "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "project," "estimates," "plans," "forecast," "is likely to," and similar expressions or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "may," "would," "should," and "could" are generally forward-looking in nature and not historical facts. Such statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of our management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. The accuracy of such statements is subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those projected, including, but not limited to, prices for building products, changes in the competitive position of our products, commodity input costs, the effect of general economic conditions, our ability to efficiently and effectively integrate the BROSCO acquisition, mortgage rates and availability, housing demand, housing vacancy rates, governmental regulations, unforeseen production disruptions, as well as natural disasters. These and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements are discussed in greater detail in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. We undertake no obligation to revise them in light of new information. Finally, we undertake no obligation to review or confirm analyst expectations or estimates that might be derived from this release.

See accompanying summary notes to consolidated financial statements and segment information.

Summary Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements and Segment Information

The Consolidated Statements of Operations, Segment Statements of Operations, Consolidated Balance Sheets, Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows, and Segment Information presented herein do not include the notes accompanying the Company's Consolidated Financial Statements and should be read in conjunction with the Company’s 2023 Form 10-K and the Company's other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Net income for all periods presented involved estimates and accruals.

EBITDA represents income before interest (interest expense and interest income), income taxes, and depreciation and amortization. Additionally, we disclose Adjusted EBITDA, which further adjusts EBITDA to exclude the change in fair value of interest rate swaps. The following table reconciles net income to EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, and December 31, 2023:

The following table reconciles segment income and unallocated corporate costs to EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, and December 31, 2023:

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