Boise Cascade Company ("Boise Cascade," the "Company," "we," or "our") (NYSE: BCC) today reported fourth quarter net income of $97.5 million, or $2.44 per share, on sales of $1.6 billion. For the full year 2023, Boise Cascade reported net income of $483.7 million, or $12.12 per share, on sales of $6.8 billion. For 2022 comparative results, see the table below.

"We closed out 2023 with a fourth quarter that delivered strong financial performance, further execution of our growth strategies through organic and acquisition initiatives, and meaningful returns to our shareholders through share price gains and dividends. I remain humbled and grateful for our team as we continue to execute on strategies that position us to serve and support our vendor and customer partners into the future," stated Nate Jorgensen, CEO. "As we look forward to 2024, we are optimistic about new single-family residential construction activity and have great confidence in our people to execute our strategy independent of the market backdrop. In addition, our balance sheet remains strong, and we remain committed to our balanced approach to capital allocation and look forward to executing our reinvestment and growth projects included in our expanded capital plan."

In fourth quarter 2023, total U.S. housing starts and single-family housing starts increased 4% and 23%, respectively, compared to the same period in 2022. For the full year 2023, total and single-family housing starts decreased 9% and 6%, respectively, compared to the same period in 2022. 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 $24.1 million, or 6%, to $449.7 million for the three months ended December 31, 2023, from $425.6 million for the three months ended December 31, 2022. The increase in sales was driven by higher sales volumes for I-joists and LVL (collectively referred to as EWP). The increase was offset partially by lower sales prices across all product lines and lower plywood sales volumes. Wood Products' segment income decreased $10.9 million to $64.1 million for the three months ended December 31, 2023, from $75.0 million for the three months ended December 31, 2022. The decrease in segment income was due primarily to lower EWP and plywood sales prices, accelerated depreciation of $6.2 million for the previously announced indefinite curtailment of lumber production at our Chapman, Alabama facility, and an increase in other manufacturing costs. These decreases in segment income were offset partially by higher EWP sales volumes and lower wood fiber costs.

For the year ended December 31, 2023, sales, including sales to BMD, decreased $183.3 million, or 9%, to $1,932.6 million from $2,115.9 million in 2022. The decrease in sales was driven by lower sales prices across all product lines and lower EWP sales volumes. These decreases were offset partially by higher plywood sales volumes. Wood Products' segment income decreased $238.1 million to $337.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, from $575.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. The decrease in segment income was due primarily to lower plywood and EWP sales prices, as well as lower EWP sales volumes. In addition, segment income was negatively impacted by an increase in depreciation and amortization expense related to the Coastal Plywood acquisition and accelerated depreciation on lumber production assets, as mentioned above. These decreases in segment income were offset partially by lower wood fiber costs and higher plywood sales volumes.

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

Building Materials Distribution

BMD's sales increased $48.8 million, or 3%, to $1,492.6 million for the three months ended December 31, 2023, from $1,443.8 million for the three months ended December 31, 2022. Compared with the same quarter in the prior year, the increase in sales was driven by sales volume increases of 13%, offset partially by sales price decreases of 10%. By product line, commodity sales decreased 8%, general line product sales increased 13%, and EWP sales (substantially all of which are sourced through our Wood Products segment) increased 10%. BMD segment income decreased $22.0 million to $70.5 million for the three months ended December 31, 2023, from $92.5 million for the three months ended December 31, 2022. The decline in segment income was driven by increased selling and distribution expenses of $12.9 million compared with the same quarter in the prior year. In addition, general and administrative expenses increased $5.7 million, due partially to acquisition-related costs for the previously announced BROSCO acquisition. Depreciation and amortization expenses also increased $3.2 million due primarily to increased capital expenditures, as well as the BROSCO acquisition. BMD's gross margins were flat when compared with the same quarter in the prior year.

For the year ended December 31, 2023, sales decreased $1,464.9 million, or 19%, to $6,178.7 million from $7,643.6 million in 2022. The decrease in sales was driven by sales price and sales volume decreases of 16% and 3%, respectively. By product line, commodity sales decreased 32%, general line product sales decreased 4%, and EWP sales decreased 16%. BMD segment income decreased $291.3 million to $335.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, from $627.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. The decrease in segment income was driven by a gross margin decrease of $276.0 million, resulting primarily from gross margin declines on EWP and commodity products and lower sales volumes across all product lines compared with 2022. In addition, general and administrative expenses increased $7.8 million, due partially to acquisition-related costs for the BROSCO acquisition. Depreciation and amortization expenses also increased $5.3 million due primarily to increased capital expenditures, as well as the BROSCO acquisition.

Balance Sheet and Liquidity

Boise Cascade ended fourth quarter 2023 with $949.6 million of cash and cash equivalents and $395.9 million of undrawn committed bank line availability, for total available liquidity of $1,345.5 million. The Company had $445.3 million of outstanding debt at December 31, 2023.

Capital Allocation

During the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company used a combined $378.2 million of cash for capital spending and the acquisition of BROSCO. We expect capital expenditures in 2024, excluding potential acquisition spending, to total approximately $250 million to $270 million. Our 2024 capital expenditures range includes spending on previously announced projects to add I-joist production capabilities at our Thorsby EWP mill and converting a plywood layup line to a parallel laminated veneer line at our Chapman, Alabama plywood facility. At our Oakdale, Louisiana facility, multiple investment projects are planned over the next two years which include upgrade and redesign of the log utilization center, a new veneer dryer and press, and modification of an existing veneer dryer. In addition, our 2024 capital expenditures range includes spending on the previously announced greenfield distribution centers in Texas and South Carolina in our BMD segment.

For the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company paid common stock dividends of $346.5 million, or $8.70 per share. In addition, on February 6, 2024, our board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share on our common stock, payable on March 15, 2024, to stockholders of record on February 23, 2024.

For the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company paid $6.4 million for the repurchase of 75,678 shares of our common stock. As of December 31, 2023, approximately 1.9 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. Recent 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. Despite recent declines in mortgage rates and homebuilders responding with various mechanisms to attract buyers, home affordability remains a challenge for consumers. However, with a resilient economy and elevated mortgage rates, which limits existing home inventory for sale, new residential construction is expected to remain an important source of supply for homebuyers. Within new residential construction, the recent reduction in rates and potential for future rate reductions has created optimism that single-family starts will reflect year-over-year growth. However, there is reservation that multi-family starts may pull back from recent record highs due to 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 robust 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 fourth quarter and full year earnings on Wednesday, February 21, 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 and Coastal Plywood acquisitions, 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 (i) the three months ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, (ii) the three months ended September 30, 2023, and (iii) the year ended December 31, 2023 and 2022:

The following table reconciles segment income and unallocated corporate costs to EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA for the (i) three months ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, (ii) three months ended September 30, 2023, and (iii) year ended December 31, 2023 and 2022: