Weyerhaeuser Breaks Even In 3Q On Timberland Sale

MIKE OBEL

NEW YORK (AP) — For the second time in two years, lumber and wood products producer Weyerhaeuser Co. dodged a quarterly loss by selling valuable properties.

The company said Friday it broke even in the third quarter, partly on after-tax proceeds of $98 million from the sale of 143,000 acres of Oregon timberland. The last time it posted a quarterly profit was a year ago when it sold a packaging business worth $6 billion.

The last time Weyerhaeuser posted a profit without a major asset sale was the third quarter of 2007.

"It's been a mess," said Deutsche Bank analyst Mark Wilde.

"They can't make any money without selling assets. The issue here is that most of what they do is tied to the residential housing market."

Nearly half of last year's revenue came from selling wood products like two-by-fours to residential home builders, among other customers. And residential housing has been battered for the last two years.