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West Fraser Announces 2021 Second Quarter Results and 2021 Virtual Investor Event VANCOUVER , BC , July 28 , 2021 / CNW / - West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. ( " West Fraser " or the " Company " ) ( TSX and NYSE : WFG ) reported today the second quarter results of 2021. The Company also announced that it will hold a virtual Investor Event in which members of the Company's senior management team will provide a corporate update to investors and analysts . The event will be webcast on September 16 , 2021 at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time / 2 : 00 p.m. Eastern Time with further details to follow . The results of operations presented and discussed below include those of Norbord from February 1 , 2021 , the date of the completion of the acquisition of Norbord . All dollar amounts in this news release are expressed in U.S. dollars unless noted otherwise . Second Quarter Highlights • Sales increased 61 % from the prior quarter to $ 3.779 billion Earnings increased to $ 1,488 million , or 39 % of sales , from $ 665 million in the prior quarter Adjusted EBITDA increased to $ 2.160 billion from $ 1.008 billion in the prior quarter Repurchased $ 233 million of WFG shares for cancellation under normal course issuer bid ( " NCIB " ) Increased authorization of the NCIB to 9.58 million shares of WFG • Redeemed Norbord Notes and retired $ 665 million of debt • Finished the quarter with liquidity at $ 3.392 billion and net debt to total capital ratio of ( 28 ) % • Initiated a CAD $ 1.0 billion substantial issuer bid ( " SIB " ) subsequent to quarter - end Results Compared to Previous Periods ( $ millions except earnings per share ( " EPS " ) ) Q2-211 Q1-211 YTD - 211 Sales Adjusted EBITDA 3,4 3,779 2,343 6,122 Q2-20 YTD - 20 921 1,811 2,160 1,0082 3,1682 104 172 Operating earnings 1,986 879 2,865 61 70 Earnings Basic EPS ( $ ) 1,488 665 2,153 35 44 12.32 6.96 19.90 0.51 12.32 6.96 19.90 0.51 0.64 0.55 Diluted EPS ( $ ) 2 . 3 . 4 . The results of the operations of Norbord from the date of the acquisition of February 1 , 2021 , are included in West Fraser's financial results . Cost of products sold was increased and Adjusted EBITDA decreased by a one - time charge of $ 93 million related to inventory purchase price accounting . See section " Non - IFRS Measures " in the Q2 2021 MD & A . Effective January 1 , 2021 , and for all comparative periods , export duties are no longer excluded from the definition of Adjusted EBITDA . Operational Results Summary Our Lumber segment generated operating earnings in the quarter of $ 955 million ( Q1-21 - $ 607 million ) and Adjusted EBITDA of $ 994 million ( Q1-21 - $ 646 million ) . Adjusted EBITDA increased due to higher lumber prices and higher shipment volumes that recovered from the seasonal railcar shortages in Canada and a period of extreme winter conditions in the U.S. South in the previous quarter . Adjusted EBITDA was negatively affected by higher manufacturing costs due in part to increased SPF log costs , and to a lesser degree , increased SYP log costs , higher expenditures related to increased employee costs in the U.S. South associated with managing through COVID - 19 impacts and other input cost inflation . Our NA EWP segment generated operating earnings in the quarter of $ 1,017 million ( Q1-21 - $ 299 million ) and Adjusted EBITDA of $ 1,106 million ( Q1-21 - $ 353 million ) . Segment operating earnings and Adjusted EBITDA in the prior quarter were decreased by a one - time charge of $ 86 million related to inventory fair value adjustments from purchase price accounting . The contribution of a full three months from our OSB operations from the Norbord acquisition , higher plywood pricing and recovery of plywood shipment volumes from the weather - related railcar shortages experienced in the previous quarter positively impacted Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter . Higher log costs from increased B.C. , Alberta and Ontario stumpage rates and higher resin costs negatively impacted Adjusted EBITDA . Our Pulp & Paper segment generated operating earnings in the quarter of $ 17 million ( Q1-21 - $ 2 million ) and Adjusted EBITDA of $ 25 million ( Q1-21 $ 11 million ) while the Europe EWP segment generated operating earnings in the quarter of $ 15 million ( Q1-21 - negative $ 6 million ) and Adjusted EBITDA of $ 39 million ( Q1-21 - $ 11 million ) . Our Europe EWP segment operating earnings and Adjusted EBITDA were decreased by a one - time charge of $ 7 million in the prior quarter related to inventory fair value adjustments from purchase price accounting . Capital Allocation Strong second quarter results increased quarter - end available liquidity to $ 3,392 million from $ 2,551 million at the end of the prior quarter . This balance sheet improvement has afforded us greater flexibility to undertake strategic capital investments , repay debt and repurchase shares . Debt Repayment Concurrent with the closing of the Norbord acquisition , we assumed Norbord's $ 315 million senior notes due April 2023 ( the " 2023 Notes " ) , bearing interest at 6.25 % , and $ 350 million senior notes due July 2027 ( the " 2027 Notes " ) , bearing interest at 5.75 % . During the second quarter , we elected to redeem the remaining 2027 Notes . We also gave notice to redeem the 2023 Notes . Both Notes were redeemed with cash on hand and are no longer outstanding . With the redemptions of the 2023 Notes and the 2027 Notes we have now retired $ 665 million of the principal value of long - term debt and reduced annual interest expense by approximately $ 40 million . Normal Course Issuer Bid On February 17 , 2021 , we renewed our normal course issuer bid ( " NCIB " ) , allowing us to acquire an additional 6,044,000 Common shares until the expiry of the bid on February 16 , 2022. On June 11 , 2021 , we amended our NCIB , allowing us to acquire an additional 3,538,470 Common shares for an aggregate of 9,582,470 Common shares . In the second quarter of 2021 , we repurchased approximately 3.01 million shares under the NCIB at an average share price of CAD $ 90.85 ( $ 74.53 ) for aggregate consideration of $ 233 million . All shares purchased by the Company under the NCIB will be cancelled . Outlook