Plum Creek Timber Co.'s fourth-quarter earnings rose 30% as the real-estate investment trust reported higher revenue across its segments.

Shares rose 4.1% to $49.25 after-hours as results sharply surpassed analysts' expectations. The stock has risen 17% over the past 12 months.

"Over the past year, housing has moved from being a drag on the economy to being a bright spot," President and Chief Executive Rick Holley said. "We are seeing improving demand for lumber and wood panels that is expected to translate into higher demand and pricing for logs in 2013."

Plum Creek is one of the largest private timberland owners in the U.S., holding about 6.4 million acres. The company is expected to benefit from a gradual housing recovery, along with higher demand from Asian markets and the rise of biomass for alternative energy. It has generally seen weaker profits over the past year.

Plum Creek reported a profit of $79 million, or 49 cents a share, up from $61 million, or 38 cents a share, a year earlier. The company in October had projected downbeat earnings of 25 cents to 30 cents a share.

Revenue rose 12% to $354 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had projected revenue of $301 million.

Gross margin widened to 27.4% from 26.3%.

The timber segment, which contributes the largest share of revenue, climbed 6.6%. At the company's real-estate business, revenue improved 17%, and the manufacturing segment revenue increased 20%.

For the new year, the company expects income between $1.25 and $1.50 a share, in line with expectations of Wall Street analysts of $1.40 a share.

For the current quarter, Plum Creek anticipates reporting per-share earnings between 28 cents and 33 cents, while analysts recently surveyed by Thomson Reuters were looking for 29 cents.
 

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Posted and edited by Riona, Hanbao News Department

Contact: rionach@cltimber.com