Weyerhaeuser, Willamette Post Strong Figures

Weyerhaeuser Co. Shows Good Numbers

Weyerhaeuser Co. announced unaudited earnings of $527 million for 1999. This compares with earnings of $294 million in 1998.

The 1999 earnings include charges for the cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle and other nonrecurring items related to the acquisition of MacMillan Bloedel Limited, facility dispositions and closures. Earnings before these charges were $681 million. Net earnings before nonrecurring items in 1998 were $339 million.

Weyerhaeuser also reported record net sales of $12.3 billion for the year due to improved market conditions for all of its lines of business and the addition of MacMillan Bloedel. This compares with net sales of $10.8 billion the prior year.

``We just completed a very rewarding year for Weyerhaeuser,'' said Steven R. Rogel, chairman, president and CEO. ``From a performance perspective, all of our businesses benefited from improved market conditions. Wood Products and Weyerhaeuser Real Estate Company produced record earnings and our Pulp, Paper and Packaging businesses had their strongest year since 1995. This year also will be remembered for our successful acquisition of MacMillan Bloedel. The first two months of combined operations already have begun to yield benefits and we expect the acquisition to be accretive in 2000 as we realize expected synergies.''

For the fourth quarter, Weyerhaeuser reported net earnings of $174 million, after nonrecurring items of $5 million associated with MacMillan Bloedel acquisition costs. This compares with $30 million, after nonrecurring items of $45 million, the prior year. Net sales for the fourth quarter 1999 were $3.4 billion compared with $2.8 billion for the same period last year.

The company's fourth quarter earnings were negatively affected by the unanticipated effects of the lockout at some British Columbia ports; and continued cleanup in North Carolina after Hurricane Floyd and higher than normal maintenance expense.

``As we ended the year, market conditions remained strong for most of our product lines,'' Rogel said. ``Pulp and paper markets show signs of sustaining the improvement they've seen over the past six months of 1999. The demand for wood products may cool slightly from its record levels in 1999, but we expect the strong home building and repair and remodeling markets to produce another good year for those products.''

Rogel said the company's focus in 2000 will remain on improving operational efficiencies, streamlining delivery of internal support services and capturing the synergies of the MacMillan Bloedel and TJ International acquisitions.

Willamette Posts Strong Numbers

Willamette Industries, Inc. reported 1999 annual earnings of $260 million, up 191% over 1998. Fourth quarter earnings of $84 million were more than ten times higher than fourth quarter 1998's results of $7 million.

Sales for the full year 1999 were $4.1 billion, up 10% over 1998 net sales of $3.7 billion.

All of the company's product lines showed strong gains in the fourth quarter compared with fourth quarter 1998, according to Duane McDougall, chief executive officer.

``White paper products results strengthened significantly during the quarter, compared to both fourth quarter 1998 and third quarter 1999, with pricing and volumes up,'' McDougall said. ``Our brown paper markets continued their incremental growth, again out-performing the industry in percentage of volume growth for the year. Even our building materials business, which normally experiences a slow fourth quarter, experienced higher operating earnings than in last year's fourth quarter: $38 million compared to $15 million in the fourth quarter of 1998,'' McDougall noted.

``The prospects for the year 2000 look promising in all of our product lines,'' McDougall said. ``White paper demand continues to be strong and brown paper shows no sign of slowing its growth rate. Building materials activity should continue at reasonable levels, absent any dramatic change in interest rates. We've recently completed a number of capital projects that have reduced our cost of production. The market we anticipate for 2000 should give us an excellent opportunity to take full advantage of the benefits of our capital spending.''