Norboard announces their 2015 results

 Friday, January 29, 2016

Norbord Inc. (TSX: NBD) today reported Adjusted EBITDA of $57 million for the fourth quarter of 2015 versus $30 million in the prior quarter and $14 million in the fourth quarter of 2014. For the full-year 2015, Norbord recorded Adjusted EBITDA of $122 million compared to $115 million in 2014 as higher shipment volumes and a number of cost improvements offset lower oriented strand board (OSB) prices. North American operations generated Adjusted EBITDA of $95 million compared to $82 million in the prior year and European operations delivered Adjusted EBITDA of $38 million versus $47 million in the prior year.

“2015 was a significant year in many respects for Norbord, even though our progress is just starting to become visible in our sequential quarterly results,” said Peter Wijnbergen, Norbord’s President and CEO. “We completed our merger with Ainsworth in March to form the world’s largest OSB company and have since been focused on delivering the synergies from this combination. We have captured $27 million in annualized synergies to-date and I am confident in our ability to deliver the full $45 million target by the end of 2016.”

“Norbord’s mills in both North America and Europe continued to deliver strong operational results in 2015, with six mills setting annual production records. We achieved $43 million in Margin Improvement Program gains, reflecting the ongoing effort across our company to reduce manufacturing costs and increase productivity. US housing continues to recover at a gradual pace and we finished 2015 with a stronger than expected North American market. North American OSB demand continues to grow and sales to our home construction, home improvement and industrial customers are all increasing.”

“In Europe, our panel business delivered its 23rd consecutive quarter of stable EBITDA. Sales volumes in our key UK and German markets continue to improve as OSB market share gains versus plywood accelerate. With the merger integration now well advanced and positive momentum in our North American business, the time is right to embark on the next phase of our growth plans – I am pleased to announce that our Board has approved a $135 million capital investment to modernize and expand our Inverness, Scotland OSB mill to serve rapidly growing customer demand in Europe.”

Norbord recorded Adjusted earnings of $16 million or $0.19 per share (basic and diluted) in the fourth quarter of 2015 versus an Adjusted loss of $4 million or $0.05 per share in the third quarter of 2015 and an Adjusted loss of $16 million or $0.18 per share in the fourth quarter of 2014. Despite a much stronger fourth quarter result, for the full year 2015 the Company recorded an Adjusted loss of $14 million or $0.17 per share compared to an Adjusted loss of $17 million or $0.20 per share in 2014 due to a number of one-time merger-related expenses.

Tags: 2015 result, EBITDA, norboard, quarterly devident