BCC 12.31.2012 10-K
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, DC 20549
FORM 10-K
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x | ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
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For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2012 |
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o | TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
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For the transition period from to |
Commission File Number: 001-35805
Boise Cascade Company
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
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Delaware | 20-1496201 |
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
1111 West Jefferson Street
Suite 300
Boise, Idaho 83702-5389
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
(208) 384-6161
(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
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Title of Each Class | | Name of Each Exchange on Which Registered |
Common Stock, $0.01 par value per share | | New York Stock Exchange |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
Indicate by check mark if registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes o No x
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes o No x
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes o No x
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes o No o
Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of the registrant's knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. x
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer," and "smaller reporting company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer o Accelerated filer o
Non-accelerated filer x (Do not check if a smaller reporting company) Smaller reporting company o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes o No x
The registrant did not have a class of registered equity securities outstanding on June 29, 2012. All of its equity securities were held by Boise Cascade Holdings, L.L.C., the registrant's sole member as of June 29, 2012.
There were 43,229,412 shares of the registrant's $0.01 par value common stock outstanding on March 1, 2013.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
None.
Table of Contents
Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements made in this Form 10-K contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause our actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include information concerning our future financial performance, business strategy, plans, goals, and objectives.
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. Actual results may differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.
The following factors, among others, could cause our actual results, performance, or achievements to differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements:
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• | The commodity nature of our products and their price movements, which are driven largely by capacity utilization rates and industry cycles that affect supply and demand; |
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• | General economic conditions, including but not limited to housing starts, repair-and-remodel activity, and light commercial construction, inventory levels of new and existing homes for sale, foreclosure rates, interest rates, unemployment rates, relative currency values, and mortgage availability and pricing, as well as other consumer financing mechanisms, that ultimately affect demand for our products; |
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• | The highly competitive nature of our industry; |
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• | Availability and affordability of raw materials, including wood fiber, glues and resins, and energy; |
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• | The impact of actuarial assumptions and regulatory activity on pension costs and pension funding requirements; |
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• | The difficulty in offsetting fixed costs related to our recent capital investments if the housing market does not recover; |
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• | Material disruptions at our manufacturing facilities; |
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• | The financial condition and creditworthiness of our customers; |
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• | Concentration of our sales among a relatively small group of customers; |
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• | Our substantial indebtedness, including the possibility that we may not generate sufficient cash flows from operations or that future borrowings may not be available in amounts sufficient to fulfill our debt obligations and fund other liquidity needs; |
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• | Cost of compliance with government regulations, in particular environmental regulations; |
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• | Labor disruptions, shortages of skilled and technical labor, or increased labor costs; |
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• | Impairment of our long-lived assets; |
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• | The need to successfully implement succession plans for certain members of our senior management team; |
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• | Our reliance on Boise Inc. for many of our administrative services; |
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• | Major equipment failure; |
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• | Severe weather phenomena such as drought, hurricanes, tornadoes, and fire; |
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• | Increased costs as a public company; and |
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• | Fluctuations in the market for our equity. |
Certain of these and other factors are discussed in more detail in "Item 1A. Risk Factors" of this Form 10-K. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are included in this Form 10-K. While we believe that our forecasts and assumptions are reasonable, we caution that actual results may differ materially. If one or more of these or other risks or uncertainties materialize, or if our underlying assumptions prove to be incorrect, actual results may vary materially from what we projected. Consequently, actual events and results may vary significantly from those included in or contemplated or implied by our forward-looking statements.
PART I
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Boise Cascade Company is a building products company headquartered in Boise, Idaho. Our operations began on October 29, 2004 (inception), when we acquired the forest products and paper assets of OfficeMax (the Forest Products Acquisition). As used in this Form 10-K, the terms "Boise Cascade" "we," and "our" refer to Boise Cascade Company (formerly known as Boise Cascade, L.L.C.) and its consolidated subsidiaries. Prior to the initial public offering of shares of common stock of Boise Cascade Company, discussed in Note 13, Equity, of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in "Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10-K, Boise Cascade was 100% owned by Boise Cascade Holdings, L.L.C. (BC Holdings). Boise Cascade Company is a large, vertically-integrated building materials distributor and wood products manufacturer with widespread operations throughout the United States and Canada. We believe we are one of the largest stocking wholesale distributors of building products in the United States. We are also the second largest manufacturer of laminated veneer lumber (LVL), I-joists, and plywood in North America, according to Resource Information Systems Inc.'s (RISI) Capacity Report. Our broad line of products is used primarily in new residential construction, residential repair-and-remodeling projects, light commercial construction, and industrial applications. We have a broad base of more than 4,500 customers, which includes a diverse mix of retail lumberyards, home improvement centers, leading wholesalers, and industrial converters. We believe our large, vertically-integrated operations provide us with significant advantages over less integrated competitors and position us to optimally serve our customers.
Our Industry
The building products manufacturing and distribution industry in North America is highly competitive, with a number of producers manufacturing and selling a broad range of products. Demand for our products is principally influenced by new residential construction, light commercial construction, and repair-and-remodeling activity in the United States. Drivers of new residential construction, light commercial construction, and repair-and-remodeling activity include new household formation, the age of the housing stock, availability of credit and other macroeconomic factors, such as GDP growth, population growth, migration, interest rates, employment, and consumer sentiment. Purchasing decisions made by the customers who buy our wood products are generally based on price, quality, and particularly with respect to engineered wood products (EWP), customer service and product support.
Segments
We operate our business using three reportable segments: Building Materials Distribution, Wood Products, and Corporate and Other. We present information pertaining to our segments and the geographic areas in which we operate in Note 14, Segment Information, of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in "Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10-K.
The business discussion that follows focuses on the businesses retained after the sale of our Paper and Packaging & Newsprint assets in February 2008. We have chosen not to provide the five-year data for the segments sold, as these segments are not part of the business we manage today.
Building Materials Distribution
Products
We sell a broad line of building materials, including EWP, oriented strand board (OSB), plywood, lumber and general line items such as siding, metal products, insulation, roofing, and composite decking. Except for EWP, we purchase most of these building materials from a vendor base of more than 1,000 third-party suppliers ranging from large manufacturers, such as James Hardie Building Products, Trex Company, Louisiana-Pacific, and Georgia-Pacific, to small regional producers. Substantially all of our EWP is sourced from our Wood Products segment. Our products are used in the construction of new residential housing, including single-family, multi-family, and manufactured homes, the repair and remodeling of existing housing, and the construction of light industrial and commercial buildings.
The following table sets forth segment sales; segment income (loss); depreciation and amortization; and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) for the periods indicated:
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| | Year Ended December 31 |
| | 2012 | | 2011 (a) | | 2010 (a) | | 2009 | | 2008 |
| | (millions) |
Segment sales (b) | | $ | 2,190.2 |
| | $ | 1,779.4 |
| | $ | 1,778.0 |
| | $ | 1,609.8 |
| | $ | 2,109.4 |
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Segment income (c) | | $ | 24.0 |
| | $ | 2.0 |
| | $ | 11.6 |
| | $ | 8.0 |
| | $ | 19.5 |
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Segment depreciation and amortization | | 8.8 |
| | 8.4 |
| | 7.5 |
| | 7.6 |
| | 7.7 |
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Segment EBITDA (d) | | $ | 32.9 |
| | $ | 10.4 |
| | $ | 19.1 |
| | $ | 15.5 |
| | $ | 27.2 |
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(a) | In 2011, segment income and EBITDA included $1.2 million of noncash asset write-downs. In 2010, segment income and EBITDA included $4.1 million of income for cash received from a litigation settlement related to vendor product pricing. |
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(b) | Segment sales are calculated before intersegment eliminations. |
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(c) | Segment income excludes Corporate and Other segment expenses. |
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(d) | Segment EBITDA is calculated as segment income (loss) before depreciation and amortization, excluding Corporate and Other segment expenses. EBITDA is the primary measure used by our chief operating decision maker to evaluate segment operating performance and to decide how to allocate resources to segments. See "Item 6. Selected Financial Data" of this Form 10-K for a description of our reasons for using EBITDA, for a discussion of the limitations of such a measure, and for a reconciliation of our consolidated EBITDA to net income (loss). |
Facilities
Our Building Materials Distribution segment operates a nationwide network of 31 building materials distribution facilities throughout the United States. We also operate a single truss manufacturing plant. Our broad geographic presence reduces our exposure to market factors in any single region. During 2011, we completed facility expansions of our operations in Delanco, New Jersey, and Detroit, Michigan. In early 2012, we also completed facility expansions in Dallas, Texas, and Greenland, New Hampshire.
Sales, Marketing, and Distribution
We market our building materials primarily to retail lumberyards and home improvement centers that then sell the products to end customers, who are typically professional builders, independent contractors, and homeowners engaged in residential construction projects. We also market our products to industrial converters, which use our products to assemble windows, doors, agricultural bins, and other value-added products used in industrial and repair-and-remodel applications. We believe that our national presence and long-standing relationships with many of our key suppliers allow us to obtain favorable price and term arrangements and offer excellent customer service on top brands in the building materials industry. We also have expertise in special-order sourcing and merchandising support, which is a key service for our home improvement center customers that choose not to stock certain items in inventory.
Each of our distribution centers implements its own distribution and logistics model using centralized information systems. We use internal and external trucking resources to deliver materials on a regularly scheduled basis. Our highly efficient logistics system allows us to deliver superior customer service and assist our customers in optimizing their working capital, which we believe has led to increased market share during the housing downturn.
We have a large, decentralized sales force to support our suppliers and customers. Our sales force and product managers have local product knowledge and decision-making authority, which we believe enables them to optimize stocking, pricing, and product assortment decisions. Our sales force has access to centralized IT systems, an extensive vendor base, and corporate-level working capital support, which we believe complements our localized sales model. Our sales force is compensated, in part, based on branch-level performance.
We regularly evaluate opportunities to introduce new products. Broadening our product offering helps us serve as a one‑stop resource for building materials, which we believe improves our customers' purchasing and operating efficiencies. The introduction of new products is primarily driven by customer demand or product extensions originating from our vendors. We believe our long-standing customer relationships allow us to respond to customer feedback and introduce new products more
rapidly. Broadening our product offering also helps us drive additional products through our distribution system, thereby increasing our scale and efficiency.
Segment Strategy
Grow Market Share in Our Building Materials Distribution Segment
We intend to grow our Building Materials Distribution business in existing markets by adding products and services to better serve our customers. We also plan to opportunistically expand our Building Materials Distribution business into nearby geographies that we currently serve using off-site storage arrangements or longer truck routes. Sales in our Building Materials Distribution segment are strongly correlated with new residential construction in the United States. Measured on a sales-per-housing-start basis, our Building Materials Distribution business has grown significantly from 2005 to 2012, with penetration increasing from $1,476 to $2,808, or approximately 90%, per U.S. housing start. We will continue to grow our Building Materials Distribution business by opportunistically acquiring facilities, adding new products, opening new locations, relocating and expanding capacity at existing facilities, and capturing local market share through our superior supply chain capabilities and customer service.
Further Differentiate Our Products and Services to Capture Market Share
We seek to continue to differentiate ourselves from our competitors by providing a broad line of high-quality products and superior customer service. Throughout the housing downturn, we believe we have grown market share by strengthening relationships with our customers by stocking sufficient inventory and retaining our primary sales team. Our highly efficient logistics system allows us to deliver superior customer service and assist our customers in optimizing their working capital. Our national distribution platform, coupled with the manufacturing capabilities of our Wood Products segment, differentiates us from most of our competitors and is critical to servicing retail lumberyards, home improvement centers, and industrial converters locally, regionally, and nationally. Additionally, this system allows us to procure product more efficiently and to develop and maintain stronger relationships with our vendors. Because of these relationships and our national presence, many of our vendors have offered us favorable pricing and provide us with enhanced product introductions and ongoing marketing support.
Wood Products
Products
We manufacture and sell EWP, consisting of LVL, I-joists, and laminated beams, which are high-grade, value-added structural products used in applications where extra strength and consistent quality is required, such as headers and beams. LVL is also used in the manufacture of engineered I-joists, which are assembled by combining a vertical web of oriented strand board (OSB) with top and bottom LVL or solid wood flanges. We also produce plywood, studs, particleboard, and ponderosa pine lumber, a premium lumber grade sold primarily to manufacturers of specialty wood windows, moldings, and doors.
In 2012, EWP, plywood, and lumber accounted for 34%, 45%, and 9%, respectively, of our Wood Products sales. Most of our wood products are sold to leading wholesalers (including our Building Materials Distribution segment), home improvement centers, retail lumberyards and industrial converters. In 2012, approximately 38% of our Wood Products sales, including approximately 73% of our EWP sales, were to our Building Materials Distribution segment.
The following table sets forth the annual capacity and production of our principal products for the periods indicated:
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| | Year Ended December 31 |
| | 2012 | | 2011 | | 2010 | | 2009 | | 2008 |
| | (millions) |
Capacity (a) | | | | | | | | | | |
Laminated veneer lumber (LVL) (cubic feet) (b) | | 27.5 |
| | 27.5 |
| | 27.5 |
| | 27.5 |
| | 27.5 |
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Plywood (sq. ft.) (3/8" basis) (c) | | 1,630 |
| | 1,500 |
| | 1,475 |
| | 1,430 |
| | 1,600 |
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Lumber (board feet) (d) | | 235 |
| | 200 |
| | 180 |
| | 180 |
| | 230 |
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Production | | | | | | | | | | |
Laminated veneer lumber (LVL) (cubic feet) (b) | | 14.2 |
| | 10.7 |
| | 10.0 |
| | 7.9 |
| | 11.2 |
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I‑joists (equivalent lineal feet) (b) | | 149 |
| | 112 |
| | 105 |
| | 81 |
| | 109 |
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Plywood (sq. ft.) (3/8" basis) (c) | | 1,482 |
| | 1,240 |
| | 1,183 |
| | 1,066 |
| | 1,351 |
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Lumber (board feet) (d) | | 196 |
| | 152 |
| | 149 |
| | 141 |
| | 189 |
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(a) | Annual capacity is production assuming normal operating shift configurations. Accordingly, production can exceed capacity under some operating conditions. |
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(b) | A portion of LVL production is used to manufacture I-joists at two EWP plants. Capacity is based on LVL production only. |
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(c) | Approximately 15%, 12%, 11%, 10%, and 13%, respectively, of the plywood we produced in 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, and 2008 was utilized internally to produce EWP. |
In response to the housing downturn, in March 2009, we closed our plywood manufacturing facility in White City, Oregon, and curtailed our Oakdale, Louisiana, plywood operation. The Oakdale, Louisiana, mill resumed plywood operations in June 2010.
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(d) | In June 2009, we closed our lumber facility in La Grande, Oregon. This facility was reopened on a limited operating basis in April 2011. In June 2009, we purchased a lumber manufacturing facility in Pilot Rock, Oregon. In February 2012, we purchased a lumber facility in Arden, Washington. |
The following table sets forth segment sales, segment income (loss), depreciation and amortization, and EBITDA for the periods indicated:
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| | Year Ended December 31 |
| | 2012 | | 2011 (a) | | 2010 (b) | | 2009 (c) | | 2008 (d) |
| | (millions) |
Segment sales (e) | | $ | 943.3 |
| | $ | 712.5 |
| | $ | 687.4 |
| | $ | 550.8 |
| | $ | 795.9 |
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Segment income (loss) (f) | | $ | 55.8 |
| | $ | (15.1 | ) | | $ | (8.1 | ) | | $ | (77.3 | ) | | $ | (55.1 | ) |
Segment depreciation and amortization | | 24.4 |
| | 28.4 |
| | 27.1 |
| | 33.0 |
| | 27.7 |
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Segment EBITDA (g) | | $ | 80.2 |
| | $ | 13.3 |
| | $ | 19.0 |
| | $ | (44.3 | ) | | $ | (27.4 | ) |
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(a) | In 2011, segment loss included $2.6 million of expense related to the permanent closure of a laminated beam plant in Emmett, Idaho, and noncash asset write-downs, of which $2.2 million reduced EBITDA and $0.4 million was accelerated depreciation recorded in "Depreciation and amortization." |
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(b) | In 2010, segment loss and EBITDA included $0.5 million of income for cash received from a litigation settlement related to vendor product pricing. |
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(c) | In 2009, segment loss included $8.9 million of expense related to the June 2009 closure of our lumber manufacturing facility in La Grande, Oregon, of which $3.7 million was included in EBITDA and $5.2 million was accelerated depreciation recorded in "Depreciation and amortization." |
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(d) | In 2008, segment loss included $11.3 million of expenses related to closing our veneer operations in St. Helens, Oregon, and our plywood manufacturing facility in White City, Oregon, offset partially by a $5.7 million net gain related to the sale of our wholly owned subsidiary in Brazil that manufactured veneer. |
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(e) | Segment sales are calculated before intersegment eliminations. |
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(f) | Segment income (loss) excludes Corporate and Other segment expenses. |
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(g) | Segment EBITDA is calculated as segment income (loss) before depreciation and amortization, excluding Corporate and Other segment expenses. EBITDA is the primary measure used by our chief operating decision maker to evaluate segment operating performance and to decide how to allocate resources to segments. See "Item 6. Selected Financial Data" of this Form 10-K for a description of our reasons for using EBITDA, for a discussion of the limitations of such a measure, and for a reconciliation of our consolidated EBITDA to net income (loss). |
Facilities
Our Wood Products segment currently operates four EWP facilities and seven plywood and veneer plants, five of which manufacture inputs used in our EWP facilities. Our EWP facilities have a high degree of raw material and manufacturing integration with our plywood and veneer facilities. We also operate five sawmills, including the Arden, Washington, facility purchased in February 2012, and one particleboard plant. During 2011, we closed our laminated beam manufacturing plant in Emmett, Idaho and purchased a laminated beam and decking manufacturing plant in Homedale, Idaho, that provides us a broader product mix and a larger, more efficient operation.
Raw Materials and Input Costs
Wood fiber. The primary raw material in our Wood Products segment is wood fiber. For the year ended December 31, 2012, wood fiber accounted for 43% of materials, labor and other operating expenses, including from related parties (excluding depreciation), in our Wood Products segment. Our plywood and veneer facilities use Douglas fir, white woods and pine logs as raw materials. We use ponderosa pine, spruce, and white fir logs to manufacture various grades of lumber. Our EWP facilities in Louisiana and Oregon use parallel-laminated veneer panels produced by our facilities and veneers produced by our facilities and purchased from third parties, together with OSB purchased from third parties, to manufacture LVL and I-joists. Our manufacturing facilities are located in close proximity to active wood markets. We have long-term market-based contracts for a significant portion of our fiber needs.
Timber comprises nearly 80% of our wood fiber costs, and we satisfy our timber requirements through a combination of purchases under supply agreements, open-market purchases, and purchases pursuant to contracts awarded under public timber auctions. In February 2005, one of our affiliates sold its timberland operations to Forest Capital, an unaffiliated third party. In connection with this sale, we entered into a series of fiber supply agreements with Forest Capital. These fiber supply agreements required Forest Capital to sell a specified amount of timber to us at prices generally related to market prices. In 2012, approximately 33% of our timber was supplied pursuant to these agreements. In July 2011, Forest Capital sold approximately 50,000 acres of the timberlands in Louisiana to Rayonier Louisiana Timberlands, LLC, a timberland real estate investment trust (Rayonier). In July 2012, Forest Capital sold the remaining legacy timberlands in Louisiana, Washington, Oregon, Minnesota, and Idaho to a group of purchasers whose investments in the timberlands are managed by Hancock Natural Resource Group, Inc. (Hancock). In July 2012, Hancock resold approximately 110,000 acres of the Louisiana timberlands to a group of purchasers whose investments in the timberlands are managed by The Molpus Woodlands Group LLC (Molpus). The purchasers of the timberlands (other than Molpus and Rayonier) assumed Forest Capital's obligations under the 2005 wood supply agreements. The Molpus entities and Rayonier each entered into a new master harvest rights agreement on substantially the same terms. As a result of Forest Capital's sale of the timberlands to various purchasers, our sources of timber are more diversified.
All of the supply agreements require us to purchase (and the suppliers to sell) a minimum specified volume of timber per year at prices that are reset quarterly based on agreed-upon market data. Prior to the beginning of each contract year, we provide each supplier with a harvest plan. To the extent the volumes specified in the harvest plan exceed the specified minimum volume, the parties have agreed to negotiate in good faith with respect to the purchase of the additional timber. If agreement is not reached, then the parties have agreed to a public auction process designed to provide us with equal opportunity to purchase such additional quantities. The agreements generally also provide us with rights to reduce the specified minimum volumes in the event we close a mill or permanently cease operation of any portion of a mill. All of the supply agreements terminate on December 31, 2014, subject to additional one-year extensions unless notice is provided to the other party at least six months prior to expiration of the applicable agreement. The agreements generally restrict the ability of the owner of the timberlands to transfer any interest in the timberlands during the terms of the applicable supply agreement without our consent.
We also bid in auctions conducted by federal, state, and local authorities for the purchase of timber, generally at fixed prices, under contracts with a term of generally one to three years. In 2012, approximately 21% of our timber was supplied
under government contracts. The remainder of our log supply in 2012 was supplied through private purchases directly from timber owners or through dealers.
Under most of our timber and fiber supply agreements, we have the right to cancel or reduce our commitments in the event of a mill curtailment or shutdown. Future purchase prices under most of these agreements will be set quarterly or semiannually based on regional market prices. Our timber and fiber obligations are subject to change based on, among other things, the effect of governmental laws and regulations, our manufacturing operations not operating in the normal course of business, timber and fiber availability, and the status of environmental appeals. For a discussion of contractual commitments relating to fiber supply agreements, see "Contractual Obligations" in "Item 8. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" of this Form 10-K.
The cost of timber is strongly correlated with product prices for building materials, with the increase in product prices driving increases in timber costs. Because wood fiber is a commodity, prices have been cyclical historically in response to changes in domestic and foreign demand and supply. Demand for dimension lumber has a strong influence on pricing, as the dimension lumber industry is the largest consumer of timber.
Foreign demand for timber exports, particularly from China, increased timber costs in the western U.S. in 2010 and 2011 and negatively affected wood products manufacturers in the region. In 2012, China's demand for timber exports from the western U.S. declined significantly from 2011 levels. In the future, we expect the level of foreign demand for timber exports from the western U.S. to fluctuate based on economic activity in China and other Pacific Rim countries, currency exchange rates, and the availability of timber supplies from other countries such as Canada, Russia, and New Zealand. Sustained periods of high timber costs may impair the cost competitiveness of our manufacturing facilities. Availability of residual wood fiber for our particleboard operation has been negatively affected by significant mill closures and curtailments that have occurred among solid-wood product producers.
Our aggregate cost of obtaining timber is also affected by fuel costs and the distance of the fiber source from our facilities, as we are often required to transport the timber we purchase from the source to our facilities.
Other raw materials and energy costs. We use a significant quantity of various resins and glues in our manufacturing processes. Resin and glue product costs are influenced by changes in the prices of raw material input costs, primarily fossil fuel products. We purchase resins and glues, other raw materials and energy used to manufacture our products in both the open market and through supply contracts. The contracts are generally with regional suppliers who agree to supply all of our needs for a certain raw material or energy at one of our facilities. These contracts have terms of various lengths and typically contain price adjustment mechanisms that take into account changes in market prices. Therefore, although our long-term contracts provide us with supplies of raw materials and energy that are more stable than open‑market purchases, in many cases, they may not alleviate fluctuations in market prices.
Sales, Marketing, and Distribution
Our EWP sales force is managed centrally through a main office that oversees regional sales teams. Our sales force spends a significant amount of time working with end customers who purchase our EWP. Our sales force provides a variety of technical support services, including integrated design, engineering, product specification software, distributor inventory management software, and job-pack preparation systems. Sales of plywood, lumber, and particleboard are managed centrally by product. The majority of our wood products are sold to distributors, including our Building Materials Distribution segment and other distributors.
The following table lists sales volumes for our principal wood products for the periods indicated:
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| | Year Ended December 31 |
| | 2012 | | 2011 | | 2010 | | 2009 | | 2008 |
| | (millions) |
Laminated veneer lumber (LVL) (cubic feet) | | 9.1 |
| | 7.1 |
| | 6.6 |
| | 5.6 |
| | 7.6 |
|
I-joists (equivalent lineal feet) | | 145 |
| | 110 |
| | 106 |
| | 87 |
| | 117 |
|
Plywood (sq. ft.) (3/8" basis) | | 1,356 |
| | 1,106 |
| | 1,088 |
| | 992 |
| | 1,228 |
|
Lumber (board feet) | | 188 |
| | 153 |
| | 149 |
| | 146 |
| | 191 |
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Segment Strategy
Grow Our Wood Products Segment Operations With a Focus on Expanding Our Market Position in EWP
We will continue to expand our market position in EWP by focusing on our large-scale manufacturing position, comprehensive customer service, design support capabilities and efficient distribution network. We have positioned ourselves to take advantage of expected increases in the demand for EWP per housing start by expanding our capacity through capital investments in low-cost, internal veneer manufacturing. We have also developed strategic relationships with third-party veneer suppliers to support additional EWP production as needed. Additionally, we intend to grow our Wood Products business through strategic acquisitions that are a compelling fit with our existing operations.
Continue to Improve Our Competitiveness Through Operational Excellence
We use a disciplined cost management approach to maximize our competitiveness without sacrificing our ability to react to future growth opportunities. Additionally, we have made capital investments and process improvements in certain facilities, which have enabled us to close or divest five manufacturing facilities during the housing downturn without any adverse impact on our production capacity. These capital investments and process improvements have decreased our production costs and allowed us to produce lower-cost, higher-quality veneers. Beginning in 2009, we adopted a data-driven process improvement program to further strengthen our manufacturing operations. Because of the significant gains we continue to see from this program, we believe there are opportunities to apply similar techniques and methods to different functional areas (including sales and marketing) to realize efficiencies in those areas.
Corporate and Other
Our Corporate and Other segment includes corporate support staff services, related assets and liabilities, and foreign exchange gains and losses. These support services include, but are not limited to, finance, accounting, legal, information technology, and human resource functions. Since the sale of our Paper and Packaging & Newsprint assets in 2008, we have purchased many of these services from Boise Inc. under an Outsourcing Services Agreement, under which Boise Inc. provides a number of corporate staff services to us at cost. See Note 3, Outsourcing Services Agreement, of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in "Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10-K for more information. Prior to the sale of our Paper and Packaging & Newsprint assets, this segment also included certain rail and truck transportation businesses and related assets.
Customers
We maintain relationships with a broad customer base across multiple market segments and various end markets. For the year ended December 31, 2012, our top ten customers represented approximately 29% of our sales, with one customer, Home Depot, accounting for approximately 11% during this period. At December 31, 2012, receivables from Home Depot accounted for approximately 14% of total receivables. Sales to Home Depot were recorded in our Building Materials Distribution and Wood Products segments. No other customer accounted for 10% or more of total sales for the year ended December 31, 2012.
Building Materials Distribution. A majority of our sales in this segment were to retail lumberyards and home improvement centers that then sell products to end customers, who are typically professional builders, independent contractors, and homeowners engaged in residential construction projects. We also market our products to industrial converters. We believe our broad product line provides our customers with an efficient, one-stop resource for their building materials needs.
Wood Products. Our Building Materials Distribution segment is our Wood Products segment's largest customer, representing approximately 38% of our Wood Products segment's overall sales, including approximately 73% of its EWP sales, for 2012. Our third-party customers in this segment include wholesalers, home improvement centers, and industrial converters primarily in North America.
Competition
The competitive environment in the U.S. continues to be challenging as new residential and light commercial construction activity and repair-and-remodel spending remain substantially below average historical levels. Industry capacity in a number of product markets, including those in which we compete, far exceeds the current level of demand. Our products and services compete with similar products manufactured and distributed by others. Many factors influence our competitive
position in the markets in which we operate. Those factors include price, service, quality, product selection, and convenience of location.
Some of our competitors are larger than we are and have greater financial resources. These resources may afford those competitors greater purchasing power, increased financial flexibility, and more capital resources for expansion and improvement.
Building Materials Distribution. The building materials distribution markets in which we operate are highly fragmented, and we compete in each of our geographic and product markets with national, regional, and local distributors. Our national wholesale distribution competitors include BlueLinx Holdings Inc. and Weyerhaeuser Company. Cedar Creek Inc. is one of our regional competitors in the southeastern United States. We also compete with wholesale brokers, such as Forest City Trading Group, and certain buying cooperatives, such as Lumbermens Merchandising Corporation. We compete on the basis of delivered cost, product selection and availability, quality of service and compatibility with customers' needs. We also distribute products for some manufacturers that engage in direct sales. In recent years, there has been consolidation among retail lumberyards and home improvement centers. As the customer base consolidates, this dynamic could affect our ability to maintain margins. Proximity to customers is an important factor in minimizing shipping costs and facilitating quick order turnaround and on-time delivery. We believe our ability to obtain quality materials, from both internal and external sources, the scale and efficiency of our national footprint, and our focus on customer service are our primary competitive advantages in this segment. Also, financial stability is important to suppliers and customers in choosing distributors and allows for more favorable terms on which we are able to obtain our products from our suppliers and sell our products to our customers.
Wood Products. The wood products manufacturing markets in which we operate are large and highly competitive. We compete against several major North American EWP producers, such as Weyerhaeuser Company and Louisiana-Pacific Corporation, as well as several other smaller, regional firms. Our EWP products also face competition from numerous dimension lumber producers, because EWP may be substituted by dimension lumber in many building applications. In plywood, we compete with Georgia-Pacific, the largest manufacturer in North America, other large producers such as Roseburg Forest Products, and several smaller producers. We have leading market positions in the manufacture of EWP, plywood, and ponderosa pine lumber. We hold much smaller market positions in our other manufactured products. In the wood products manufacturing markets, we compete primarily on the basis of price, quality, and particularly with respect to EWP, levels of customer service. Most of our competitors are located in the United States and Canada, although we also compete with manufacturers in other countries. Our competition includes not only manufacturers and distributors of similar building products but also manufacturers and distributors of products made from alternative materials, such as steel and plastic. Some of our competitors enjoy strong reputations for product quality and customer service, and these competitors may have strong relationships with certain distributors, making it more difficult for our products to gain additional market share. Some of our competitors in this segment are also vertically integrated and/or have access to internal sources of wood fiber, which may allow them to subsidize their base manufacturing business in periods of rising fiber prices.
Environmental
Our discussion of general and industry-specific environmental laws and regulations is presented under the caption "Environmental" in "Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and "Item 3. Legal Proceedings" of this Form 10-K.
Capital Investment
Information concerning our capital expenditures is presented in "Investment Activities" under "Liquidity and Capital Resources" in "Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" of this Form 10-K.
Seasonal and Inflationary Influences
We are exposed to fluctuations in quarterly sales volumes and expenses due to seasonal factors. These seasonal factors are common in the building products industry. For further information, see "Seasonal and Inflationary Influences" in "Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" of this Form 10-K.
Employees
As of February 17, 2013, we had approximately 4,620 employees. Approximately 30% of these employees work pursuant to collective bargaining agreements. As of February 17, 2013, we had ten collective bargaining agreements. Two
agreements, covering 355 employees at our facility in Florien, Louisiana, and 287 employees at our facility in Oakdale, Louisiana, are set to expire on July 15, 2013. We expect these two agreements to be bargained together. If these agreements are not renewed or extended upon their expiration, we could experience a material labor disruption or significantly increased labor costs, which could prevent us from meeting customer demand or reduce our sales and profitability.
Trademarks
We maintain many trademarks for our manufactured wood products, particularly EWP. Our key registered trademarks include BOISE CASCADE® and the TREE-IN-A-CIRCLE® logo, which we believe to be of significant importance to our business.
Identification of Executive Officers
Information with respect to our executive officers is set forth in "Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers, and Corporate Governance" of this Form 10-K.
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
Risks Relating to Our Business
Many of the products we manufacture or purchase and resell are commodities whose price is determined by the market's supply and demand for such products, and the markets in which we operate are cyclical and competitive. The depressed state of the housing, construction, and home improvement markets could continue to adversely affect demand and pricing for our products.
Many of the building products we produce or distribute, including OSB, plywood, lumber and particleboard, are commodities that are widely available from other manufacturers or distributors with prices and volumes determined frequently in an auction market based on participants' perceptions of short-term supply and demand factors. At times, the price for any one or more of the products we produce may fall below our cash production costs, requiring us to either incur short-term losses on product sales or cease production at one or more of our manufacturing facilities. Therefore, our profitability with respect to these commodity products depends, in significant part, on managing our cost structure, particularly raw materials and labor, which represent the largest components of our operating costs. Commodity wood product prices could be volatile in response to operating rates and inventory levels in various distribution channels. Commodity price volatility affects our distribution business, with falling price environments generally causing reduced revenues and margins, resulting in substantial declines in profitability and possible net losses.
Historically, demand for the products we manufacture, as well as the products we purchase and distribute, has been closely correlated with new residential construction in the United States and, to a lesser extent, light commercial construction and residential repair-and-remodeling activity. New residential construction activity remained substantially below average historical levels during 2012, and so did demand for many of the products we manufacture and distribute. There is significant uncertainty regarding the timing and extent of any recovery in such construction activity and resulting product demand levels. Demand for new residential construction is influenced by seasonal weather factors, mortgage availability and rates, unemployment levels, household formation rates, domestic population growth, immigration rates, residential vacancy and foreclosure rates, demand for second homes, existing home prices, consumer confidence, and other general economic factors.
Wood products industry supply is influenced primarily by price-induced changes in the operating rates of existing facilities but is also influenced over time by the introduction of new product technologies, capacity additions and closures, restart of idled capacity, and log availability. The balance of wood products supply and demand in the United States is also heavily influenced by imported products, principally from Canada.
We have very limited control of the foregoing, and as a result, our profitability and cash flow may fluctuate materially in response to changes in the supply and demand balance for our primary products.
Our industry is highly competitive. If we are unable to compete effectively, our sales, operating results, and growth strategies could be negatively affected.
The building products distribution industry that our Building Materials Distribution segment competes in is highly fragmented and competitive, and the barriers to entry for local competitors are relatively low. Competitive factors in our
industry include pricing and availability of product, service and delivery capabilities, ability to assist customers with problem solving, customer relationships, geographic coverage, and breadth of product offerings. Also, financial stability is important to suppliers and customers in choosing distributors and allows for more favorable terms on which to obtain products from suppliers and sell products to customers. If our financial condition deteriorates in the future, our support from suppliers may be negatively affected.
The markets for the products we manufacture in our Wood Products segment are also highly competitive. Our competitors range from very large, fully integrated forest and building products firms to smaller firms that may manufacture only one or a few types of products. We also compete less directly with firms that manufacture substitutes for wood building products. Certain mills operated by our competitors may be lower-cost manufacturers than the mills operated by us.
Some of our competitors are larger companies and, therefore, have access to greater financial and other resources than we do. These resources may afford those competitors greater purchasing power, increased financial flexibility and more capital resources for expansion and improvement, which may enable those competitors to compete more effectively than we can.
Our manufacturing businesses may have difficulty obtaining wood fiber at favorable prices or at all.
Wood fiber is our principal raw material, which accounted for approximately 43% of the aggregate amount of materials, labor, and other operating expenses, including from related parties (excluding depreciation), for our Wood Products segment in 2012. Wood fiber is a commodity, and prices have been cyclical historically in response to changes in domestic and foreign demand and supply. Foreign demand for timber exports, particularly from China, increased timber costs in the western U.S. in 2010 and 2011 and negatively affected wood products manufacturers in the region. In 2012, China's demand for timber exports from the western U.S. declined significantly from 2011 levels. In the future, we expect the level of foreign demand for timber exports from the western U.S. to fluctuate based on the economic activity in China and other Pacific Rim countries, currency exchange rates and the availability of timber supplies from other countries such as Canada, Russia, and New Zealand. Sustained periods of high timber costs may impair the cost competitiveness of our manufacturing facilities.
We currently enjoy the benefit of supply agreements put in place in 2005 following the sale of our timberlands (or successor arrangements), under which we purchase timber at market‑based prices. For 2012, approximately 33% of our timber was supplied pursuant to agreements assumed by (or replacement master supply agreements with) Hancock, Molpus, and Rayonier. The supply agreements with these parties terminate on December 31, 2014, subject to additional one-year extensions unless notice is provided to the other party at least six months prior to expiration of the applicable agreement. If a counterparty to these agreements elects not to continue these agreements or we are unable to renegotiate these agreements on terms that are acceptable to us, we would need to locate a replacement supplier for our timber requirements, which could include private purchases with other suppliers, open-market purchases, and purchases from governmental sources. If we are unable to locate a replacement supplier in a particular region to satisfy our timber needs at satisfactory prices, it could have an adverse effect on our results of operations.
In 2012, we purchased approximately 21% of our timber from federal, state, and local governments. In certain regions in which we operate, a substantial portion of our timber is purchased from governmental authorities. As a result, existing and future governmental regulation can affect our access to, and the cost of, such timber. Future domestic or foreign legislation and litigation concerning the use of timberlands, timber harvest methodologies, forest road construction and maintenance, the protection of endangered species, forest-based carbon sequestration, the promotion of forest health, and the response to and prevention of catastrophic wildfires can affect timber and fiber supply from both government and private lands. Availability of harvested timber and fiber may be further limited by fire, insect infestation, disease, ice storms, windstorms, hurricanes, flooding, and other natural and man-made causes, thereby reducing supply and increasing prices.
Availability of residual wood fiber for our particleboard operation has been negatively affected by significant mill closures and curtailments that have occurred among solid-wood product manufacturers. Future development of wood cellulose biofuel or other new sources of wood fiber demand could interfere with our ability to source wood fiber or lead to significantly higher costs.
Significant changes in discount rates, actual investment return on pension assets, and other factors could affect our earnings, equity, and pension contributions in future periods.
Our earnings may be negatively affected by the amount of income or expense we record for our pension plans. Generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) require that we calculate income or expense for the plans using actuarial valuations. These valuations reflect assumptions relating to financial market and other economic conditions. Changes in key economic indicators can change the assumptions. The most significant year-end assumptions used to estimate pension expense
are the discount rate and the expected long-term rate of return on plan assets. In addition, we are required to make an annual measurement of plan assets and liabilities, which may result in a significant change to equity through a reduction or increase to "Accumulated other comprehensive loss." A decline in the market value of the pension assets will increase our funding requirements. Our pension plan liabilities are sensitive to changes in interest rates. As interest rates decrease, the liabilities increase, potentially increasing benefit costs and funding requirements. Changes in demographics, including increased numbers of retirements or changes in life expectancy assumptions, may also increase the funding requirements of the obligations related to the pension plans. At December 31, 2012, the net underfunded status of our defined benefit pension plans was $192.5 million. If the status of our defined benefit plans continues to be underfunded, we anticipate significant future funding obligations, reducing the cash available for our business. For more discussion regarding how our financial statements can be affected by pension plan estimates, see "Pensions" included in "Critical Accounting Estimates" in "Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" of this Form 10-K.
Our recent significant capital investments have increased fixed costs, which could negatively affect our profitability.
In the past three years, we have completed a number of capital investments, including significantly increasing our outdoor storage acreage and leasing additional warehouse space. In the future, we expect to make further capital investments, primarily related to internal veneer production. These significant capital investments have resulted in increased fixed costs, which could negatively affect our profitability if the housing market does not recover and revenues do not improve to offset our incremental fixed costs.
A material disruption at one of our manufacturing facilities could prevent us from meeting customer demand, including the demand from our Building Materials Distribution business, reduce our sales, and/or negatively affect our financial results.
Any of our manufacturing facilities, or any of our machines within an otherwise operational facility, could cease operations unexpectedly due to a number of events, including but not limited to:
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• | Equipment failure, particularly a press at one of our major EWP production facilities; |
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• | Fires, floods, earthquakes, hurricanes or other catastrophes; |
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• | Unscheduled maintenance outages; |
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• | Utility and transportation infrastructure disruptions; |
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• | Other operational problems; or |
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• | Ecoterrorism or threats of ecoterrorism. |
Any downtime or facility damage could prevent us from meeting customer demand for our products and/or require us to make unplanned capital expenditures. If our machines or facilities were to incur significant downtime, our ability to satisfy customer requirements would be impaired, resulting in lower sales and net income.
Because approximately 38% of our Wood Products sales in 2012, including approximately 73% of our EWP sales, were to our Building Materials Distribution business, a material disruption at our Wood Products facilities would also negatively impact our Building Materials Distribution business. We are therefore exposed to a larger extent to the risk of disruption to our Wood Products manufacturing facilities due to our vertical integration and the resulting impact on our Building Materials Distribution business.
In addition, a number of our suppliers are subject to the manufacturing facility disruption risks noted above. Our suppliers' inability to produce the necessary raw materials for our manufacturing processes or supply the finished goods that we distribute through our Building Materials Distribution segment may adversely affect our results of operations, cash flows, and financial position.
Adverse conditions may increase the credit risk from our customers.
Our Building Materials Distribution and Wood Products segments extend credit to numerous customers who are heavily exposed to the effects of downturns in the housing market. Unfavorable housing market conditions could result in
financial failures of one or more of our significant customers, which could impair our ability to fully collect receivables from such customers and negatively affect our operating results, cash flow, and liquidity.
A significant portion of our sales are concentrated with a relatively small number of customers.
For the year ended December 31, 2012, our top ten customers represented approximately 29% of our sales, with one customer accounting for approximately 11% of sales. At December 31, 2012, receivables from such customer accounted for approximately 14% of total receivables. Although we believe that our relationships with our customers are strong, the loss of one or more of these customers could have a material adverse effect on our operating results, cash flow and liquidity.
Our ability to service our indebtedness or to fund our other liquidity needs is subject to various risks.
Our ability to make scheduled payments on our indebtedness and fund other liquidity needs depends on and is subject to our financial and operating performance, which in turn is affected by general and regional economic, financial, competitive, business, and other factors, including the availability of financing in the banking and capital markets as well as the other risks described herein. In particular, demand for our products correlates to a significant degree to the level of residential construction activity in North America, which historically has been characterized by significant cyclicality. Over the last several years, housing starts remained below historical levels. This reduced level of building was caused, in part, by an increase in the inventory of homes for sale, a more restrictive mortgage market, and a slowed economy. There can be no assurance as to when or if the housing market will rebound to historical levels. We have experienced significant losses from operations and used significant cash for operating activities in recent periods.
We cannot assure you that our business will generate sufficient cash flows from operations or that future borrowings will be available to us in an amount sufficient to enable us to service our debt or to fund our other liquidity needs. If we are unable to service our debt obligations or to fund our other liquidity needs, we could be forced to curtail our operations, reorganize our capital structure, or liquidate some or all of our assets.
We are subject to environmental regulation and environmental compliance expenditures, as well as other potential environmental liabilities.
Our businesses are subject to a wide range of general and industry-specific environmental laws and regulations, particularly with respect to air emissions, wastewater discharges, solid and hazardous waste management, and site remediation. Enactment of new environmental laws or regulations, including those aimed at addressing greenhouse gas emissions, or changes in existing laws or regulations might require significant expenditures or restrict operations.
From time to time, legislative bodies and environmental regulatory agencies may promulgate new regulatory programs imposing significant incremental operating costs or capital costs on us. In December 2012, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a revised series of four regulations commonly referred to collectively as Boiler MACT, which are intended to regulate the emission of hazardous air pollutants from industrial boilers. Facilities in our Wood Products segment will be subject to one or more of these regulations and must be in compliance with the applicable rules by early 2016. We are currently undertaking a complete review of the revised rules to assess how they will affect our operations. Even with the revised rules finalized, considerable uncertainty still exists, as there will likely be legal challenges to the final rules from industry and/or environmental organizations. Notwithstanding that uncertainty, we are proceeding with efforts to analyze the applicability and requirements of the regulations, including the capital and operating costs required to comply. At this time, we cannot accurately forecast the capital or operating cost changes that may result from compliance with the regulations.
As an owner and operator of real estate, we may be liable under environmental laws for the cleanup of past and present spills and releases of hazardous or toxic substances on or from our properties and operations. We could be found liable under these laws whether or not we knew of, or were responsible for, the presence of such substances. In some cases, this liability may exceed the value of the property itself.
We may be unable to generate funds or other sources of liquidity and capital to fund unforeseen environmental liabilities or expenditures to the extent we are not indemnified by third parties. For example, in connection with the completion of our acquisition of the forest products and paper assets of OfficeMax in 2004 (Forest Products Acquisition), OfficeMax is generally obligated to indemnify us for hazardous substance releases and other environmental violations that occurred prior to the Forest Products Acquisition. However, OfficeMax may not have sufficient funds to fully satisfy its indemnification obligations when required, and in some cases, we may not be contractually entitled to indemnification by OfficeMax. In addition, in connection with the sale of our Paper and Packaging & Newsprint assets in 2008, Boise Inc. and its affiliates assumed any and all environmental liabilities arising from our ownership or operation of the assets and businesses sold to them,
and we believe we are entitled to indemnification by them from third-party claims in the event they fail to fully discharge any such liabilities on the basis of common law rules of indemnification. However, Boise Inc. may not have sufficient funds to discharge its obligations when required or to indemnify us from third-party claims arising out of any such failure. For additional information on how environmental regulation and compliance affects our business, see "Environmental" in "Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" of this Form 10-K.
Labor disruptions or increased labor costs could adversely affect our business.
As of February 17, 2013, we had approximately 4,620 employees. Approximately 30% of these employees work pursuant to collective bargaining agreements. As of February 17, 2013, we had ten collective bargaining agreements. Two agreements, covering 355 employees at our facility in Florien, Louisiana, and 287 employees at our facility in Oakdale, Louisiana, are set to expire on July 15, 2013. We expect these two agreements to be bargained together. If these agreements are not renewed or extended upon their expiration, we could experience a material labor disruption or significantly increased labor costs, which could prevent us from meeting customer demand or reduce our sales and profitability.
If our long-lived assets become impaired, we may be required to record noncash impairment charges that could have a material impact on our results of operations.
We review the carrying value of long-lived assets for impairment when events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of the assets may not be recoverable. Should the markets for our products deteriorate further or should we decide to invest capital differently than as expected, or should other cash flow assumptions change, it is possible that we will be required to record noncash impairment charges in the future with respect to the investments we have completed and expect to complete, which could have a material impact on our results of operations.
The terms of our revolving credit facility and the indenture governing our senior notes restrict, and covenants contained in agreements governing indebtedness in the future may restrict, our ability to operate our business and to pursue our business strategies.
Our revolving credit facility and the indenture governing our senior notes contain, and any future indebtedness of ours may contain, a number of restrictive covenants that impose customary operating and financial restrictions on us. Our revolving credit facility and the indenture governing our senior notes limit our ability and the ability of our restricted subsidiaries, among other things, to:
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• | Declare or pay dividends, redeem stock, or make other distributions to stockholders; |
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• | Create liens or use assets as security in other transactions; |
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• | Merge or consolidate, or sell, transfer, lease or dispose of substantially all of our assets; |
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• | Enter into transactions with affiliates; |
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• | Sell or transfer certain assets; and |
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• | Make prepayments on our senior notes and subordinated indebtedness. |
In addition, our revolving credit facility provides that if an event of default occurs or excess availability under our revolving credit facility drops below a threshold amount equal to the greater of 12.5% of the aggregate commitments under our revolving credit facility or $31.25 million (and until such time as excess availability for two consecutive fiscal months exceeds that threshold amount and no event of default has occurred and is continuing), we will be required to maintain a monthly minimum fixed coverage charge ratio of 1.0:1.0, determined on a trailing twelve-month basis.
Our failure to comply with any of these covenants could result in an event of default which, if not cured or waived, could result in the acceleration of all of our indebtedness.
We may be unable to attract and retain key management and other key employees.
Our key managers are important to our success and may be difficult to replace because they have an average of 30 years of experience in forest products manufacturing and building materials distribution. While our senior management team
has considerable experience, certain members of our management team are nearing or have reached normal retirement age. The failure to successfully implement succession plans could result in inadequate depth of institutional knowledge or inadequate skill sets, which could adversely affect our business.
As a result of the sale of our Paper and Packaging & Newsprint assets, we now rely on Boise Inc. for many of our administrative services.
In conjunction with the sale of our Paper and Packaging & Newsprint assets in 2008, we entered into an Outsourcing Services Agreement, under which Boise Inc. provides a number of corporate staff services to us at cost. These services include information technology, accounting, and human resource transactional services. Most of the Boise Inc. staff that provides these services are providing the same services they provided when they were our employees. Nevertheless, we cannot be assured that these employees will remain with Boise Inc. or that there will not be a disruption in the continuity or level of service provided. If Boise Inc. is unwilling or unable to provide services at the same quality levels as those services have been provided in the past, our business and compliance activities and results of operations could be substantially and negatively affected.
Risks Relating to Ownership of Our Common Stock
The price of our common stock may fluctuate significantly, and you could lose all or part of your investment.
Volatility in the market price of our common stock may prevent you from being able to sell your shares at or above the price you paid for them. The market price for our common stock could fluctuate significantly for various reasons, including:
•Our operating and financial performance and prospects;
•Our quarterly or annual earnings or those of other companies in our industry;
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• | The public's reaction to our press releases, our other public announcements, and our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); |
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• | Changes in, or failure to meet, earnings estimates or recommendations by research analysts who track our common stock or the stock of other companies in our industry; |
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• | The failure of research analysts to cover our common stock; |
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• | General economic, industry, and market conditions; |
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• | Strategic actions by us, our customers, or our competitors, such as acquisitions or restructurings; |
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• | New laws or regulations or new interpretations of existing laws or regulations applicable to our business; |
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• | Changes in accounting standards, policies, guidance, interpretations, or principles; |
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• | Material litigation or government investigations; |
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• | Changes in general conditions in the U.S. and global economies or financial markets, including those resulting from war, incidents of terrorism, or responses to such events; |
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• | Changes in key personnel; |
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• | Sales of common stock by us, our principal stockholder, or members of our management team; |
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• | Termination of lock-up agreements with our management team and principal stockholder; |
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• | The granting or exercise of employee stock options; |
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• | Volume of trading in our common stock; and |
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• | The impact of the facts described elsewhere in "Item 1A. Risk Factors" of this Form 10-K. |
In addition, in recent years, the stock market has regularly experienced significant price and volume fluctuations. This volatility has had a significant impact on the market price of securities issued by many companies, including companies in our industry. The changes frequently appear to occur without regard to the operating performance of the affected companies.
Hence, the price of our common stock could fluctuate based upon factors that have little or nothing to do with us, and these fluctuations could materially reduce our share price.
The requirements of being a public company will increase certain of our costs and require significant management focus.
As a public company, our legal, accounting, and other expenses associated with compliance-related and other activities will increase. For example, we have created new board committees and appointed six independent directors to comply with the corporate governance requirements of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Costs to obtain director and officer liability insurance will contribute to our increased costs. As a result of the associated liability, it may be more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on our board of directors or as executive officers. Advocacy efforts by stockholders and third parties may also prompt even more changes in governance and reporting requirements, which could further increase our compliance costs.
We are exempt from certain corporate governance requirements since we are a "controlled company" within the meaning of the NYSE rules, and as a result, you will not have the protections afforded by these corporate governance requirements.
Boise Cascade Holdings, L.L.C. (BC Holdings) holds a majority of our common stock. Madison Dearborn Partners, L.L.C. (Madison Dearborn), through one of its investment funds, is BC Holdings' principal equityholder. We are considered a "controlled company" for the purposes of the NYSE listing requirements. Under these rules, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power is held by a group is a "controlled company" and may elect not to comply with certain NYSE corporate governance requirements, including the requirements that our board of directors, our Compensation Committee, and our Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee meet the standard of independence established by those corporate governance requirements. The NYSE independence standards are intended to ensure that directors who meet the independence standard are free of any conflicting interest that could influence their actions as directors. Accordingly, you may not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the NYSE's corporate governance requirements.
Our majority stockholder has the ability to control significant corporate activities, and our majority stockholder's interests may not coincide with yours.
BC Holdings beneficially owns approximately 68.7% of our common stock. As a result of its ownership, BC Holdings (and Madison Dearborn as its indirect controlling equityholder), so long as it holds a majority of our outstanding shares, will have the ability to control the outcome of matters submitted to a vote of stockholders and, through our board of directors, the ability to control decision making with respect to our business direction and policies.
Matters over which Madison Dearborn, directly or indirectly, exercises control include:
•Election of directors;
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• | Mergers and other business combination transactions, including proposed transactions that would result in our stockholders receiving a premium price for their shares; |
•Other acquisitions or dispositions of businesses or assets;
•Incurrence of indebtedness and the issuance of equity securities;
•Repurchase of stock and payment of dividends; and
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• | The issuance of shares to management under our newly adopted management incentive plan (2013 Incentive Plan), as described in "Item 11. Executive Compensation" in this Form 10-K. |
Even if BC Holdings' ownership of our shares falls below a majority, it may continue to be able to strongly influence or effectively control our decisions. In addition, BC Holdings has a contractual right to designate a number of directors proportionate to its stock ownership.
Conflicts of interest may arise because some of our directors are principals of our largest stockholder.
Messrs. Mencoff, Norton, and Souleles, who are officers or employees of Madison Dearborn, serve on our board of directors. Madison Dearborn is the ultimate principal equityholder of BC Holdings, our majority stockholder. Madison
Dearborn and entities controlled by it may hold equity interests in entities that directly or indirectly compete with us, and companies in which it currently invests may begin competing with us. As a result of these relationships, when conflicts between the interests of Madison Dearborn, on the one hand, and of other stockholders, on the other hand, arise, these directors may not be disinterested. Although our directors and officers have a duty of loyalty to us under Delaware law and our certificate of incorporation, transactions that we enter into in which a director or officer has a conflict of interest are generally permissible so long as (1) the material facts relating to the director's or officer's relationship or interest as to the transaction are disclosed to our board of directors and a majority of our disinterested directors approves the transaction, (2) the material facts relating to the director's or officer's relationship or interest as to the transaction are disclosed to our stockholders and a majority of our disinterested stockholders approve the transaction, or (3) the transaction is otherwise fair to us. Our certificate of incorporation also provides that any principal, officer, member, manager, and/or employee of Madison Dearborn or any entity that controls is controlled by or under common control with Madison Dearborn (other than Forest Products Holdings, L.L.C. (FPH), an entity controlled by an investment fund managed by Madison Dearborn, BC Holdings, us, or any company that is controlled by us) or any investment funds managed by Madison Dearborn will not be required to offer any transaction opportunity of which they become aware to us and could take any such opportunity for themselves or offer it to other companies in which they have an investment, unless such opportunity is offered to them solely in their capacities as our directors.
We do not currently intend to pay dividends on our common stock.
We do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock for the foreseeable future. Instead, we intend to retain future earnings to fund our growth. In addition, our existing indebtedness restricts, and we anticipate our future indebtedness may restrict, our ability to pay dividends. Therefore, you may not receive a return on your investment in our common stock by receiving a payment of dividends.
Boise Cascade Company does not conduct any substantive operations and, as a result, its ability to pay dividends will be dependent upon the financial results and cash flows of its operating subsidiaries and the distribution or other payment of cash to it in the form of dividends or otherwise. The direct and indirect subsidiaries of Boise Cascade Company are separate and distinct legal entities and have no obligation to make any funds available to Boise Cascade Company.
Future sales of our common stock, or the perception in the public markets that these sales may occur, may depress our stock price.
Sales of substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market, or the perception that these sales could occur, could adversely affect the price of our common stock and could impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional shares. As of March 1, 2013, there were 43,229,412 shares of our common stock outstanding. Of these, 13,529,412 shares are freely tradable (except for shares, if any, held by our affiliates), and approximately 29,700,000 shares may be sold upon expiration of lock-up agreements on August 4, 2013 (subject to volume limitations). All of our common stock, other than the 13,529,412 shares sold in our initial public offering, is owned by BC Holdings. Sales by BC Holdings of a substantial number of shares could significantly reduce the market price of our common stock. BC Holdings has the right to require us to register the shares of our common stock held by it pursuant to the terms of a registration rights agreement entered into in connection with our initial public offering.
An aggregate of 3,100,000 shares of our common stock are reserved for future issuance under the 2013 Incentive Plan. When issued, the shares will be able to be freely sold in the public market, subject to the lock-up agreements referred to above (subject in some cases to volume limitations). If a large number of these shares are sold in the public market, the sales could reduce the trading price of our common stock.
Our future operating results may fluctuate significantly, and our current operating results may not be a good indication of our future performance. Fluctuations in our quarterly financial results could affect our stock price in the future.
Our revenues and operating results have historically varied from period to period, and we expect that they will continue to do so as a result of a number of factors, many of which are outside of our control. If our quarterly financial results or our predictions of future financial results fail to meet the expectations of securities analysts and investors, our stock price could be negatively affected. Any volatility in our quarterly financial results may make it more difficult for us to raise capital in the future or pursue acquisitions that involve issuances of our stock. Our operating results for prior periods many not be effective predictors of future performance.
Factors associated with our industry, the operation of our business, and the markets for our products may cause our quarterly financial results to fluctuate, including:
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• | The commodity nature of our products and their price movements, which are driven largely by capacity utilization rates and industry cycles that affect supply and demand; |
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• | General economic conditions, including but not limited to housing starts, repair-and-remodel activity and light commercial construction, inventory levels of new and existing homes for sale, foreclosure rates, interest rates, unemployment rates, relative currency values, and mortgage availability and pricing, as well as other consumer financing mechanisms, that ultimately affect demand for our products; |
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• | The highly competitive nature of our industry; |
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• | Availability and affordability of raw materials, including wood fiber, glues and resins, and energy; |
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• | The impact of actuarial assumptions and regulatory activity on pension costs and pension funding requirements; |
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• | Actions of suppliers, customers, and competitors, including merger and acquisition activities, plant closures, and financial failures; |
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• | The financial condition and creditworthiness of our customers; |
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• | Concentration of our sales among a relatively small group or customers; |
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• | Our substantial indebtedness, including the possibility that we may not generate sufficient cash flows from operations or that future borrowings may not be available in amounts sufficient to fulfill our debt obligations and fund other liquidity needs; |
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• | Cost of compliance with government regulations, in particular environmental regulations; |
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• | Labor disruptions, shortages of skilled and technical labor, or increased labor costs; |
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• | Impairment of our long-lived assets; |
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• | Attraction and retention of key management and other key employees; |
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• | Our reliance on Boise Inc. for many of our administrative services; |
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• | Major equipment failure; and |
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• | Severe weather phenomena such as drought, hurricanes, tornadoes, and fire. |
Any one of the factors above or the cumulative effect of some of the factors referred to above may result in significant fluctuations in our quarterly financial and other operating results, including fluctuations in our key metrics. The variability and unpredictability could result in our failing to meet our internal operating plan or the expectations of securities analysts or investors for any period. If we fail to meet or exceed such expectations for these or any other reasons, the market price of our shares could fall substantially and we could face costly lawsuits, including securities class action suits.
Certain provisions of our organizational documents and other contractual provisions may make it difficult for stockholders to change the composition of our board of directors and may discourage hostile takeover attempts that some of our stockholders may consider to be beneficial.
Certain provisions of our certificate of incorporation and bylaws may have the effect of delaying or preventing changes in control if our board of directors determines that such changes in control are not in the best interests of us and our stockholders. The provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws include, among other things, the following:
•A classified board of directors with three-year staggered terms;
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• | The ability of our board of directors to issue shares of preferred stock and to determine the price and other terms, including preferences and voting rights, of those shares without stockholder approval; |
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• | Stockholder action can only be taken at a special or regular meeting and not by written consent following the time that Madison Dearborn Capital Partners IV, L.P., one of Madison Dearborn's investment funds (MDCP IV), and its affiliates cease to beneficially own a majority of our common stock; |
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• | Advance notice procedures for nominating candidates to our board of directors or presenting matters at stockholder meetings; |
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• | Removal of directors only for cause following the time that MDCP IV and its affiliates cease to beneficially own a majority of our common stock; |
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• | Allowing only our board of directors to fill vacancies on our board of directors; and |
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• | Following the time that MDCP IV and its affiliates cease to beneficially own a majority of our common stock, supermajority voting requirements to amend our bylaws and certain provisions of our certificate of incorporation. |
In addition, we have entered into a Director Nomination Agreement with BC Holdings that provides BC Holdings the right to designate nominees for election to our board of directors for so long as BC Holdings beneficially owns 10% or more of the total number of shares of our common stock then outstanding. The Director Nomination Agreement also provides that MDCP IV may cause BC Holdings to assign such right to MDCP IV or to an MDCP IV affiliate so long as MDCP IV and its affiliates are the beneficial owners of 50% or more of BC Holdings' voting equity interests.
We have elected in our certificate of incorporation not to be subject to Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL), an anti-takeover law. In general, Section 203 prohibits a publicly held Delaware corporation from engaging in a business combination, such as a merger, with a person or group owning 15% or more of the corporation's voting stock for a period of three years following the date the person became an interested stockholder, unless (with certain exceptions) the business combination or the transaction in which the person became an interested stockholder is approved in a prescribed manner. Accordingly, we are not subject to any anti-takeover effects of Section 203. However, our certificate of incorporation contains provisions that have the same effect as Section 203, except that they provide that Madison Dearborn, its affiliates (including any investment funds managed by Madison Dearborn), and any person that becomes an interested stockholder as a result of a transfer of 5% or more of our voting stock by the forgoing persons to such person are excluded from the "interested stockholder" definition in our certificate of incorporation and are therefore not subject to the restrictions set forth therein that have the same effect as Section 203.
While these provisions have the effect of encouraging persons seeking to acquire control of our company to negotiate with our board of directors, they could enable the board of directors to hinder or frustrate a transaction that some, or a majority, of the stockholders might believe to be in their best interests and, in that case, may prevent or discourage attempts to remove and replace incumbent directors.
These provisions may frustrate or prevent any attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management by making it more difficult for stockholders to replace members of our board of directors, which is responsible for appointing the members of our management.
Any issuance of preferred stock could make it difficult for another company to acquire us or could otherwise adversely affect holders of our common stock, which could depress the price of our common stock.
Our board of directors has the authority to issue preferred stock and to determine the preferences, limitations, and relative rights of shares of preferred stock and to fix the number of shares constituting any series and the designation of such series, without any further vote or action by our stockholders. Our preferred stock could be issued with voting, liquidation, dividend, and other rights superior to the rights of our common stock. The potential issuance of preferred stock may delay or prevent a change in control of us, discouraging bids for our common stock at a premium over the market price, and adversely affect the market price and the voting and other rights of the holders of our common stock.
Failure to establish and maintain effective internal controls in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act could have a material adverse effect on our business and stock price.
We are not currently required to comply with the rules of the SEC implementing Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and therefore are not required to make a formal assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting for that purpose. We are required to comply with the SEC's rules implementing Section 302 and 404 of the Sarbanes-
Oxley Act, which will require management to certify financial and other information in our quarterly and annual reports and provide an annual management report on the effectiveness of controls over financial reporting. Though we will be required to disclose changes made in our internal controls and procedures on a quarterly basis, we will not be required to make our first annual assessment of our internal control over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 until our fiscal year 2013 Form 10-K. To comply with the requirements of being a public company, we may need to undertake various actions, such as implementing new internal controls and procedures and hiring accounting or internal audit staff. Testing and maintaining internal control could divert our management's attention from other matters that are important to the operation of our business.
Our independent registered public accounting firm is not required to formally attest to the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting until our fiscal year 2014 Form 10-K. At such time, our independent registered public accounting firm may issue a report that is adverse, in the event it is not satisfied with the level at which our controls are documented, designed, or operating. If we are unable to conclude that we have effective internal control over financial reporting, our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to provide us with an unqualified report as required by Section 404, or we are required to restate our financial statements, we may fail to meet our public reporting obligations and investors could lose confidence in our reported financial information, which could have a negative effect on the trading price of our stock.
Our business and stock price may suffer as a result of our lack of recent public company operating experience. In addition, if securities or industry analysts do not publish research or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our stock price and trading volume could decline.
Prior to our initial public offering, we were a privately held company. Our lack of recent public company operating experience may make it difficult to forecast and evaluate our future prospects. If we are unable to execute our business strategy, either as a result of our inability to effectively manage our business in a public company environment or for any other reason, our business, prospects, financial condition, and results of operations may be harmed. In addition, as a new public company, we do not currently have and may never obtain research coverage by securities and industry analysts. If no securities or industry analysts commence coverage of our company, the trading price for our stock would be negatively impacted. If we obtain securities or industry analyst coverage and if one or more of the analysts who covers us downgrades our stock or publishes inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our stock price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of us or fails to publish reports on us regularly, demand for our stock could decrease, which could cause our stock price and trading volume to decline.
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
We have no unresolved comments from the Commission staff.
ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
Our properties are well‑maintained and are suitable for the operations for which they are used. Information concerning production capacity and the utilization of our manufacturing facilities is presented in "Item 1. Business" of this Form 10-K.
The following is a list of our facilities by segment as of March 1, 2013. We lease office space for our corporate headquarters in Boise, Idaho.
Building Materials Distribution
We lease and own properties in our Building Materials Distribution business. All of our leases are noncancelable and accounted for as operating leases. These leases are not subject to early termination except for standard nonperformance clauses. In the next 12 months, the lease for our Vancouver, Washington, facility is scheduled to terminate. We expect to renegotiate this lease on acceptable terms or to find similar property in the same geographic area. Additionally, we intend to exercise our option to renew two land leases eligible for renewal in the same period.
The following table summarizes our 32 Building Materials Distribution facilities as of March 1, 2013:
|
| | | | | |
Location | | Owned or Leased | | Approximate Warehouse Square Footage |
Phoenix, Arizona | | Owned | | 33,000 |
|
Lathrop, California | | Leased | | 164,000 |
|
Riverside, California | | Leased | | 162,000 |
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Denver, Colorado | | Owned/Leased | | 230,000 |
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Grand Junction, Colorado | | Owned/Leased | | 97,000 |
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Milton, Florida | | Leased | | 87,000 |
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Orlando, Florida | | Owned | | 144,000 |
|
Pompano Beach, Florida | | Leased | | 68,000 |
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Atlanta, Georgia | | Leased | | 155,000 |
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Boise, Idaho | | Owned/Leased | | 108,000 |
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Idaho Falls, Idaho | | Owned/Leased | | 69,000 |
|
Chicago, Illinois | | Leased | | 122,000 |
|
Biddeford/Saco, Maine (a) | | Leased | | 48,000 |
|
Baltimore, Maryland | | Leased | | 205,000 |
|
Westfield, Massachusetts | | Leased | | 134,000 |
|
Detroit, Michigan | | Leased | | 108,000 |
|
Minneapolis, Minnesota | | Leased | | 100,000 |
|
Billings, Montana | | Owned | | 81,000 |
|
Greenland, New Hampshire | | Owned/Leased | | 166,000 |
|
Delanco, New Jersey | | Owned/Leased | | 345,000 |
|
Albuquerque, New Mexico | | Leased | | 68,000 |
|
Greensboro, North Carolina | | Owned/Leased | | 88,000 |
|
Marion, Ohio | | Leased | | 95,000 |
|
Tulsa, Oklahoma | | Owned | | 129,000 |
|
Memphis, Tennessee | | Owned | | 78,000 |
|
Dallas, Texas | | Owned/Leased | | 233,000 |
|
Houston, Texas | | Leased | | 150,000 |
|
Salt Lake City, Utah | | Leased | | 126,000 |
|
Spokane, Washington | | Owned/Leased | | 58,000 |
|
Vancouver, Washington | | Leased | | 86,000 |
|
Woodinville, Washington | | Owned/Leased | | 110,000 |
|
Yakima, Washington | | Owned/Leased | | 44,000 |
|
_______________________________________
(a) Truss manufacturing plant.
Wood Products
We own all of our Wood Products manufacturing facilities. The following table summarizes our Wood Products facilities as of March 1, 2013:
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| | | | |
Facility Type | | Number of Facilities | | Locations |
LVL/I-joist/laminated beam plants | | 4 | | Louisiana, Oregon, Idaho, and Canada |
Plywood and veneer plants | | 7 | | Louisiana (2), Oregon (4), and Washington |
Sawmills | | 5 | | Oregon (3) and Washington (2) |
Particleboard plant | | 1 | | Oregon |
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
We are a party to routine legal proceedings that arise in the ordinary course of our business. We are not currently a party to any legal proceedings or environmental claims that we believe would, individually or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
Not applicable.
PART II
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ITEM 5. | MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS, AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES |
Market Prices; Record Holders
Since February 6, 2013, our common stock has been trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol BCC. On February 11, 2013, we closed on our initial public offering by issuing 13,529,412 shares of common stock. Prior to our initial public offering, there was no public market for our common stock. We are authorized to issue up to 300,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share. As of March 1, 2013, there were two registered stockholders, one of which was Cede & Co., which is the holder of shares held through the Depository Trust Company.
Dividends
Boise Cascade made $228.3 million in aggregate cash distributions to BC Holdings during the year ended December 31, 2012. Boise Cascade made no cash distributions to BC Holdings during the year ended December 31, 2011. We do not plan to pay a regular dividend on our common stock. The declaration and payment of all future dividends, if any, will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend upon our financial condition, earnings, contractual conditions, restrictions imposed by our revolving credit facility and the indenture governing our senior notes, or applicable laws and other factors that our board of directors may deem relevant. See "Asset-Based Revolving Credit Facility'' and ''Debt Refinancing'' under "Debt Structure" under "Liquidity and Capital Resources" in ''Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" of this Form 10-K for a description of the restrictions in our revolving credit facility and the indenture governing our senior notes, respectively, on our ability to pay dividends.
Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans as of December 31, 2012
In connection with the consummation of our initial public offering, BC Holdings, as our sole member (prior to our conversion from Boise Cascade, L.L.C., into Boise Cascade Company), and our board of directors approved the 2013 Incentive Plan in February 2013. The aggregate number of shares of our common stock which may be issued or used for reference purposes under the 2013 Incentive Plan or with respect to which awards may be granted may not exceed 3,100,000 shares. Prior to the approval of the 2013 Incentive Plan, we had no equity securities authorized for issuance under any compensation plan.
Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities
We did not sell any unregistered securities from January 1, 2010 through December 31, 2012.
On February 4, 2013, Boise Cascade, L.L.C., our predecessor and a Delaware limited liability company, converted into Boise Cascade Company in anticipation of our initial public offering. In connection with the conversion, the 1,000 common units of Boise Cascade, L.L.C., held by BC Holdings were automatically exchanged into 29,700,000 shares of our common stock. BC Holdings did not pay any consideration for such shares of common stock.
Use of Proceeds
On February 5, 2013, our registration statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-184964) was declared effective for our initial public offering, pursuant to which we registered the offering and sale of 13,529,412 shares of our common stock, including 1,764,706 additional shares pursuant to the underwriters' option to purchase additional shares, at a public offering price of $21.00 per share for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $284 million. The managing underwriters were Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, Goldman, Sachs & Co., Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC.
As a result of the offering, we received net proceeds of approximately $263 million, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions of approximately $19 million and offering expenses of approximately $2 million. None of such payments were direct or indirect payments to any of our directors or officers or their associates or to persons owning 10% or more of our common stock or direct or indirect payments to others.
We used $25 million of the net proceeds from the offering to repay borrowings under our revolving credit facility and intend to use the remainder for general corporate purposes.
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ITEM 6. | SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA |
The following table sets forth our selected financial data for the periods indicated and should be read in conjunction with the disclosures in "Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and "Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10-K.
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Year Ended December 31 |
| | 2012 | | 2011 (a) | | 2010 (b) | | 2009 (c) | | 2008 (d) |
| | (millions, except per-share data) |
Consolidated statement of operations data | | | | | | | | | | |
Sales | | $ | 2,779 |
| | $ | 2,248 |
| | $ | 2,241 |
| | $ | 1,973 |
| | $ | 2,977 |
|
Net income (loss) | | $ | 41 |
| | $ | (46 | ) | | $ | (33 | ) | | $ | (98 | ) | | $ | (63 | ) |
Net income (loss) per common share – basic and diluted | | $ | 1.40 |
| | $ | (1.56 | ) | | $ | (1.12 | ) | | $ | (3.32 | ) | | $ | (2.12 | ) |
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) (e) | | $ | 97 |
| | $ | 9 |
| | $ | 22 |
| | $ | (35 | ) | | $ | 9 |
|
Cash dividends declared per common share | | $ | — |
| | $ | — |
| | $ | — |
| | $ | — |
| | $ | — |
|
| | | | | | | | | | |
Balance sheet data (at end of year) | | | | | | | | | | |
Cash and cash equivalents | | $ | 55 |
| | $ | 182 |
| | $ | 265 |
| | $ | 287 |
| | $ | 276 |
|
Working capital, excluding cash and cash equivalents | | $ | 237 |
| | $ | 235 |
| | $ | 194 |
| | $ | 196 |
| | $ | 223 |
|
Total assets | | $ | 836 |
| | $ | 903 |
| | $ | 952 |
| | $ | 938 |
| | $ | 979 |
|
Total long-term debt | | $ | 275 |
| | $ | 220 |
| | $ | 220 |
| | $ | 303 |
| | $ | 315 |
|
_______________________________________
(a) The following were included in 2011 net loss:
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• | $1.7 million of expense related to the permanent closure of a laminated beam plant in Emmett, Idaho; and |
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• | $2.0 million of noncash asset write-downs. |
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(b) | In 2010, net loss includes $4.6 million of income associated with receiving proceeds from a litigation settlement related to vendor product pricing. |
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(c) | The following were included in 2009 net loss: |
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• | $6.0 million gain on the repurchase of $11.9 million of senior subordinated notes; and |
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• | $8.9 million of expense related to the closure of our lumber manufacturing facility in La Grande, Oregon. |
(d) The following were included in 2008 net loss:
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• | Operating results of the Paper and Packaging & Newsprint businesses through February 21, 2008; |
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• | $11.3 million of expense related to closing our veneer operations in St. Helens, Oregon, and our plywood manufacturing facility in White City, Oregon; and |
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• | $6.3 million of expense related to changes in the fair value of our interest rate swaps, which were terminated in February 2008. |
(e) The following table reconciles net income (loss) to EBITDA for the periods indicated:
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Year Ended December 31 |
| | 2012 | | 2011 | | 2010 | | 2009 | | 2008 |
| | (millions) |
Net income (loss) | | $ | 41 |
| | $ | (46 | ) | | $ | (33 | ) | | $ | (98 | ) | | $ | (63 | ) |
Change in fair value of interest rate swaps | | — |
| | — |
| | — |
| | — |
| | 6 |
|
Interest expense | | 22 |
| | 19 |
| | 21 |
| | 23 |
| | 34 |
|
Interest income | | — |
| | — |
| | (1 | ) | | (1 | ) | | (5 | ) |
Income tax provision | | — |
| | — |
| | — |
| | 1 |
| | — |
|
Depreciation and amortization | | 33 |
| | 37 |
| | 35 |
| | 41 |
| | 36 |
|
EBITDA | | $ | 97 |
| | $ | 9 |
| | $ | 22 |
| | $ | (35 | ) | | $ | 9 |
|
EBITDA is defined as income (loss) before interest (interest expense, interest income, and change in fair value of interest rate swaps), income taxes, and depreciation and amortization. EBITDA is the primary measure used by our chief operating decision maker to evaluate segment operating performance and to decide how to allocate resources to segments. We believe EBITDA is useful to investors because it provides a means to evaluate the operating performance of our segments and our company on an ongoing basis using criteria that are used by our internal decision makers and because it is 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. We believe EBITDA is a meaningful measure because it presents a transparent view of our recurring operating performance and allows management to readily view operating trends, perform analytical comparisons, and identify strategies to improve operating performance. EBITDA, however, is not a measure of our liquidity or financial performance under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and should not be considered as an alternative to net income (loss), income (loss) from operations, or any other performance measure derived in accordance with GAAP or as an alternative to cash flow from operating activities as a measure of our liquidity. The use of EBITDA instead of net income (loss) or segment income (loss) has limitations as an analytical tool, including the inability to determine profitability; the exclusion of interest expense, interest income, change in fair value of interest rate swaps, and associated significant cash requirements; and the exclusion of depreciation and amortization, which represent unavoidable operating costs. Management compensates for the limitations of EBITDA by relying on our GAAP results. Our measure of EBITDA is not necessarily comparable to other similarly titled captions of other companies due to potential inconsistencies in the methods of calculation.
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ITEM 7. | MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS |
Understanding Our Financial Information
This Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes and other financial information appearing elsewhere in this Form 10-K. The following discussion includes statements that are forward-looking statements that are based on the beliefs of our management, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, our management. Actual results could differ materially from those discussed in or implied by forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including those discussed below and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, particularly in the section entitled "Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements" and in Item 1A. "Risk Factors." References to "fiscal year" or "fiscal" refer to our fiscal year ending on December 31 in each calendar year.
Overview
Company Background
Boise Cascade Company is a building products company headquartered in Boise, Idaho. As used in this Form 10-K, the terms "Boise Cascade" "we," and "our" refer to Boise Cascade Company (formerly known as Boise Cascade, L.L.C.) and its consolidated subsidiaries. Prior to the initial public offering of shares of common stock of Boise Cascade Company, discussed in Note 13, Equity, of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in "Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10-K, Boise Cascade was 100% owned by Boise Cascade Holdings, L.L.C. (BC Holdings). Boise Cascade Company is a large, vertically-integrated wood products manufacturer and building materials distributor with 49 facilities (consisting of 18 manufacturing facilities and 31 distribution facilities) located throughout the United States and Canada. We have three reportable segments: (i) Building Materials Distribution, which is a wholesale distributor of building materials (ii) Wood Products, which manufactures and sells engineered wood products (EWP), plywood, studs, particleboard, and ponderosa pine lumber; and (iii) Corporate and Other, which includes corporate support staff services, related assets, and liabilities and foreign exchange gains and losses. For more information, see Note 14, Segment Information, of the Notes to
Consolidated Financial Statements in "Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10-K. Our broad line of products is used primarily in new residential construction, residential repair-and-remodeling projects, light commercial construction, and industrial applications. We have a broad base of more than 4,500 customers, which includes a diverse mix of retail lumberyards, home improvement centers, leading wholesalers, and industrial converters. Our Wood Products and Building Materials Distribution segments are vertically-integrated from wood procurement through distribution. During 2012, approximately 38% of our Wood Products sales, including approximately 73% of our EWP sales, were to our Building Materials Distribution segment.
Factors That Affect Our Operating Results
Our results of operations and financial performance are influenced by a variety of factors, including: (i) the commodity nature of the products we manufacture and distribute; (ii) general economic and industry conditions affecting demand; and (iii) availability and affordability of raw materials, including wood fiber, glues, resins and energy. These factors have historically produced cyclicality in our results of operations, and we expect this cyclicality to continue in future periods.
Commodity Nature of Our Products
Many of the building products we manufacture or distribute, including oriented strand board (OSB), plywood, lumber, and particleboard, are commodities that are widely available from other manufacturers or distributors with prices and volumes determined frequently based on participants' perceptions of short-term supply and demand factors. At times, the price for any one or more of the products we produce may fall below our cash production costs, requiring us to either incur short-term losses on product sales or cease production at one or more of our manufacturing facilities. As a result, our profitability with respect to these commodity products depends, in significant part, on managing our cost structure, particularly raw materials and labor, which represent the largest components of our operating costs, as well as the purchase cost for commodities we distribute. Commodity wood product prices could be volatile in response to operating rates and inventory levels in various distribution channels.
The following table provides changes in the average composite panel (a composite calculation based on index prices for OSB and plywood) and average composite lumber prices as reflected by Random Lengths for the periods noted below: |
| | | | | |
| Year Ended December 31 |
| 2012 versus 2011 | | 2011 versus 2010 | | 2010 versus 2009 |
Increase (decrease) in panel prices | 32% | | (10)% | | 25% |
Increase (decrease) in lumber prices | 19% | | (4)% | | 27% |
Periods of increasing prices provide the opportunity for higher sales and increased margins, while declining price environments may result in declines in sales and profitability. The increase in panel prices during the year ended December 31, 2012, compared with the same period in 2011, particularly in plywood, was the primary driver of our improved total sales and income from operations for the year ended December 31, 2012, which increased $531.0 million and $90.2 million, respectively. For further discussion of the impact of commodity prices on historical periods, see "Our Operating Results" in this Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
In our Wood Products segment, our plan is to continue to respond to market conditions by actively managing our production facilities to balance supply with demand. In addition, we plan to further expand our market position in EWP. We believe that EWP will continue to gain market share from dimensional lumber products and that margins for EWP over time will be higher and more stable than those for most dimensional lumber products. We are focused on leveraging our manufacturing position, comprehensive customer service offering, design support capabilities, and efficient distribution network to continue to gain market share among home builders, building products retailers, and other distributors.
General Economic and Industry Conditions Affecting Demand
The level of housing starts is especially important to our results of operations. From 2005 to 2011, total housing starts in the United States declined by more than 70% and remained substantially below average historical levels during 2012. The significant drop in new residential construction created challenging conditions for building products distributors and manufacturers, with substantial reductions in manufacturing and distribution capacity occurring since late 2008, as companies adjusted to lower industry demand.
In contrast, housing starts increased substantially in 2012, and as a result, demand for the products we distribute and manufacture has also increased. As of February 2013, the Blue Chip Economic Indicators consensus forecast for 2013 single- and multi-family housing starts in the U.S. was approximately 0.99 million units, compared with actual housing starts of 0.78 million in 2012 and 0.61 million in 2011, as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau. Many economists expect housing starts to continue to increase. We believe that, over the long-term, there is considerable growth potential in the U.S. housing sector.
Unemployment rates in the U.S. improved to 7.8% as of December 31, 2012, from 8.5% as of December 31, 2011. We believe continued employment growth, prospective home buyers' access to financing, and improved consumer confidence will be necessary to increase household formation rates. Improved household formation rates in turn will help stimulate new construction.
Demand for new residential construction is also influenced by several other economic conditions, including domestic population growth, immigration rates, residential vacancy and foreclosure rates, demand for second homes, existing home prices, and consumer confidence.
We believe that our product line diversification provides us some protection from declines in new residential construction. Our products are used not only in new residential construction, but also in residential repair and remodeling projects. We believe the overall age of the U.S. housing stock, resales of existing homes, increased focus on making homes more energy efficient, rising home prices, and availability of consumer loans at low interest rates will continue to support long-term growth in repair-and-remodeling expenditures and increased demand through home improvement centers and our other customers that service professional contractors.
Availability and Affordability of Raw Materials
Our principal raw material is wood fiber, which accounted for approximately 43% of the aggregate amount of materials, labor, and other operating expenses, including from related parties (excluding depreciation), for our Wood Products segment in 2012. Timber comprises nearly 80% of our wood fiber costs, and we satisfy our timber requirements through a combination of purchases under supply agreements, open-market purchases, and purchases pursuant to contracts awarded under public timber auctions. The fiber supply agreements require the timberland owners to sell a specified amount of timber to us at prices generally related to market prices. In 2012, approximately 33% of our timber was supplied pursuant to these agreements. See "Raw Materials and Input Costs" under "Wood Products" in "Item 1. Business" of this Form 10-K for further description of these agreements.
We also bid in auctions conducted by federal, state, and local authorities for the purchase of timber, generally at fixed prices, under contracts with a term of generally one to three years. In 2012, approximately 21% of our timber was supplied under government contracts. The remainder of our log supply in 2012 was supplied through private purchases directly from timber owners or through dealers.
The following table provides changes in our average per-unit log costs for the periods noted below: |
| | | | | |
| Year Ended December 31 |
| 2012 versus 2011 | | 2011 versus 2010 | | 2010 versus 2009 |
Increase in per-unit log costs | 5% | | 6% | | 1% |
The cost of timber is strongly correlated with prevailing product prices for building materials and manufacturers' expectations for future product prices, with an increase in product prices driving increases in timber costs. Because wood fiber is a commodity, prices have been cyclical historically in response to changes in domestic and foreign demand and supply. Demand for dimension lumber has a strong influence on pricing, as the dimension lumber industry is the largest consumer of timber. We anticipate that wood fiber costs will fluctuate in the future as building material product prices fluctuate. Generally, increases in the cost of timber lag product price increases, as improved manufacturer profitability often leads to increased demand for timber.
Foreign demand for timber exports, particularly from China, increased timber costs in the western U.S. in 2010 and 2011 and negatively affected wood products manufacturers in the region. In 2012, China's demand for timber exports from the western U.S. declined significantly from 2011 levels. In the future, we expect the level of foreign demand for timber exports from the western U.S. to fluctuate based on economic activity in China and other Pacific Rim countries, currency exchange rates, and the availability of timber supplies from other countries such as Canada, Russia, and New Zealand. Sustained periods of high timber costs may impair the cost competitiveness of our manufacturing facilities. Availability of residual wood fiber for
our particleboard operation has been negatively affected by significant mill closures and curtailments that have occurred among solid-wood product producers.
Our aggregate cost of obtaining timber is also affected by fuel costs and the distance between our fiber source and our facilities, as we are often required to transport the timber we purchase from the source to our facilities.
We also use various resins and glues in our manufacturing processes, which accounted for approximately 6% of the aggregate amount of materials, labor, and other operating expenses, including from related parties (excluding depreciation), for our Wood Products segment in 2012. The costs of resins and glues are influenced by changes in the prices of raw material input costs, primarily fossil fuel products. We purchase many of our raw materials through long-term contracts that contain price adjustment mechanisms that take into account changes in market prices. Therefore, although our long-term contracts provide us with supplies of raw materials and energy that are more stable than open-market purchases, in many cases, they may not alleviate fluctuations in market prices.
We also purchase OSB, which is used as the vertical web to assemble I-joists, from third parties. OSB accounted for approximately 5% of the aggregate amount of materials, labor, and other operating expenses, including from related parties (excluding depreciation), for our Wood Products segment in 2012.
The following table provides average weekly OSB composite prices as reflected by Random Lengths for the years ended December 31, 2012, December 31, 2011, and December 31, 2010:
|
| | | | | |
| Year Ended December 31 |
| 2012 | | 2011 | | 2010 |
OSB composite prices | $302 | | $209 | | $253 |
Our Operating Results
The following tables set forth our operating results in dollars and as a percentage of sales for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011, and 2010:
|
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Year Ended December 31 |
| 2012 | | 2011 | | 2010 |
| (millions) |
Sales | | | | | |
Trade | $ | 2,759.3 |
| | $ | 2,229.3 |
| | $ | 2,215.3 |
|
Related parties (a) | 19.8 |
| | 18.8 |
| | 25.3 |
|
| 2,779.1 |
| | 2,248.1 |
| | 2,240.6 |
|
| | | | | |
Costs and expenses | |
| | |
| | |
|
Materials, labor, and other operating expenses (excluding depreciation) | 2,343.2 |
| | 1,952.6 |
| | 1,947.4 |
|
Materials, labor, and other operating expenses from related parties (excluding depreciation) (a) | 60.3 |
| | 40.1 |
| | 33.6 |
|
Depreciation and amortization | 33.4 |
| | 37.0 |
| | 34.9 |
|
Selling and distribution expenses | 235.1 |
| | 205.0 |
| | 202.5 |
|
General and administrative expenses | 43.1 |
| | 37.2 |
| | 38.5 |
|
General and administrative expenses from related party (a) | — |
| | — |
| | 1.6 |
|
Other (income) expense, net | 0.9 |
| | 3.2 |
| | (4.6 | ) |
| 2,715.9 |
| | 2,275.1 |
| | 2,253.8 |
|
| | | | | |
Income (loss) from operations | $ | 63.1 |
| | $ | (27.0 | ) | | $ | (13.2 | ) |
| | | | | |
| (percentage of sales) |
Sales | | | | | |
Trade | 99.3 | % | | 99.2 | % | | 98.9 | % |
Related parties | 0.7 |
| | 0.8 |
| | 1.1 |
|
| 100.0 | % | | 100.0 | % | | 100.0 | % |
| | | | | |
Costs and expenses | | | | | |
Materials, labor, and other operating expenses, including related parties (excluding depreciation) (a) | 86.5 | % | | 88.6 | % | | 88.4 | % |
Depreciation and amortization | 1.2 |
| | 1.6 |
| | 1.6 |
|
Selling and distribution expenses | 8.5 |
| | 9.1 |
| | 9.0 |
|
General and administrative expenses, including related party (a) | 1.6 |
| | 1.7 |
| | 1.8 |
|
Other (income) expense, net | — |
| | 0.1 |
| | (0.2 | ) |
| 97.7 | % | | 101.2 | % | | 100.6 | % |
| | | | | |
Income (loss) from operations | 2.3 | % | | (1.2 | )% | | (0.6 | )% |
____________________________________
| |
(a) | For more information on our related-party transactions, see Note 4, Transactions With Related Parties, of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in "Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10-K. |
Sales Volumes and Prices
Set forth below are historical U.S. housing starts data, sales mix, and gross margin information for our Building Materials Distribution segment and segment sales volumes and average net selling prices for the principal products sold by our Wood Products segment for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011, and 2010.
|
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Year Ended December 31 |
| 2012 | | 2011 | | 2010 |
| (millions) |
U.S. Housing Starts (a) | | | | | |
Single-family | 0.54 |
| | 0.43 |
| | 0.47 |
|
Multi-family | 0.24 |
| | 0.18 |
| | 0.12 |
|
| 0.78 |
| | 0.61 |
| | 0.59 |
|
| | | | | |
Segment Sales | |
| | |
| | |
Building Materials Distribution | $ | 2,190.2 |
| | $ | 1,779.4 |
| | $ | 1,778.0 |
|
Wood Products | 943.3 |
| | 712.5 |
| | 687.4 |
|
Intersegment eliminations | (354.4 | ) | | (243.7 | ) | | (224.8 | ) |
| $ | 2,779.1 |
| | $ | 2,248.1 |
| | $ | 2,240.6 |
|
| | | | | |
| (percentage of Building Materials Distribution sales) |
Building Materials Distribution | | | | | |
Product Line Sales | | | | | |
Commodity | 49.9 | % | | 47.0 | % | | 49.5 | % |
General line | 36.3 | % | | 40.6 | % | | 39.2 | % |
Engineered wood products | 13.8 | % | | 12.4 | % | | 11.3 | % |
| | | | | |
Gross margin percentage (b) | 11.7 | % | | 11.7 | % | | 11.9 | % |
| | | | | |
| (millions) |
Wood Products | | | | | |
Sales Volumes | | | | | |
Laminated veneer lumber (LVL) (cubic feet) | 9.1 |
| | 7.1 |
| | 6.6 |
|
I-joists (equivalent lineal feet) | 145 |
| | 110 |
| | 106 |
|
Plywood (sq. ft.) (3/8" basis) | 1,356 |
| | 1,106 |
| | 1,088 |
|
Lumber (board feet) | 188 |
| | 153 |
| | 149 |
|
| | | | | |
| (dollars per unit) |
Wood Products | | | | | |
Average Net Selling Prices | | | | | |
Laminated veneer lumber (LVL) (cubic foot) | $ | 14.80 |
| | $ | 15.51 |
| | $ | 15.53 |
|
I-joists (1,000 equivalent lineal feet) | 921 |
| | 957 |
| | 937 |
|
Plywood (1,000 sq. ft.) (3/8" basis) | 295 |
| | 232 |
| | 248 |
|
Lumber (1,000 board feet) | 430 |
| | 421 |
| | 424 |
|
_______________________________________
| |
(a) | Actual U.S. housing starts as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau. |
| |
(b) | We define gross margin as "Sales" less "Materials, labor, and other operating expenses, including from related parties (excluding depreciation)." Materials, labor, and other operating expenses for our Building Materials Distribution segment primarily includes costs of inventory purchased for resale. Gross margin percentage is gross margin as a percentage of segment sales. |
2012 Compared With 2011
Sales
For the year ended December 31, 2012, total sales increased $531.0 million, or 24%, to $2,779.1 million from $2,248.1 million during the year ended December 31, 2011, driven primarily by higher plywood sales volumes and prices, which increased 23% and 27%, respectively, as well as higher EWP sales volumes, which increased 30%, in our Wood Products segment, in each case as compared with the same period in the prior year. In addition, the increase in sales was driven by increases in sales volumes and prices of 13% and 9%, respectively, in our Building Materials Distribution segment, as compared with the same period in 2011. Average composite panel and average composite lumber prices for the year ended December 31, 2012, were 32% and 19% higher, respectively, than in the same period in the prior year, as reflected by Random Lengths composite panel and lumber pricing. Single-family housing starts, which are a primary driver of our sales and typically result in higher building product utilization per start than multi-family units, experienced an increase of 24% for the year, compared with 2011.
Building Materials Distribution. During the year ended December 31, 2012, sales increased $410.8 million, or 23%, to $2,190.2 million from $1,779.4 million for the prior year. The increase in sales was driven primarily by improvements in sales volumes and prices of 13% and 9%, respectively. By product line, sales of EWP (substantially all of which is sourced through our Wood Products segment) increased 37%, or $81.6 million; commodity sales increased 31%, or $256.6 million; and general line products sales increased 10%, or $72.6 million.
Wood Products. During the year ended December 31, 2012, sales, including sales to our Building Materials Distribution segment, increased $230.8 million, or 32%, to $943.3 million from $712.5 million in 2011. The increase in sales was due primarily to higher plywood prices and volumes of $84.6 million and $58.0 million, respectively, as well as increased EWP volumes of $63.9 million, with the remaining increases due to increased lumber volumes, offset partially by declines in EWP prices. The increase in sales volumes also drove an increase in shipping and handling revenue of $15.3 million. Plywood sales volumes increased 23%, primarily as a result of increased operating rates and market share gains. LVL and I-joist sales volumes increased 28% and 31%, respectively, due to higher levels of residential construction activity, additional sales to existing customers, and sales from new EWP customers. In addition, lumber sales volumes increased 23%. Plywood prices increased 27%, while LVL and I-joist sales prices declined 5% and 4%, respectively.
Costs and Expenses
Materials, labor, and other operating expenses, including from related parties (excluding depreciation), increased $410.7 million, or 21%, to $2,403.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2012, compared with $1,992.7 million during the prior year. The increase primarily reflects higher purchased materials costs as a result of higher sales volumes in our Building Materials Distribution segment. Materials, labor, and other operating expenses as a percentage of sales ("MLO rate") were flat, compared with the prior year in our Building Materials Distribution segment. In addition, higher manufacturing costs, including wood costs, labor, glues and resins, and energy, were driven by higher sales volumes of plywood and EWP in our Wood Products segment, as well as higher per-unit log costs, which increased 5% as compared with the same period in 2011. However, the MLO rate in our Wood Products segment decreased by 600 basis points due to higher sales. The decrease in the MLO rate was primarily the result of improved leveraging of labor costs and other manufacturing costs of 340 and 260 basis points, respectively. Wood fiber costs as a percentage of sales were flat, compared with the prior year.
Depreciation and amortization expenses decreased $3.6 million, or 10%, to $33.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2012, compared with $37.0 million during the prior year. The decrease was due primarily to certain property and equipment becoming fully depreciated during 2011.
Selling and distribution expenses increased $30.1 million, or 15%, to $235.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2012, compared with $205.0 million for the prior year. The increase was due primarily to increased compensation and benefit costs of $20.5 million, including performance-based incentive costs, due to our improved operating results, as well as higher transportation costs of $4.1 million in our Building Materials Distribution segment due to increased sales volumes. The change in transportation costs excludes payroll costs related to shipping and handling, which are included in the change in compensation and benefit costs discussed above.
General and administrative expenses increased $5.9 million, or 16%, to $43.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2012, compared with $37.2 million for the prior year. The increase was due primarily to higher performance-based incentive costs as a result of improved operating results.
Outsourcing Services Agreement. Included in the 2012 and 2011 costs and expenses set forth above are $15.0 million and $14.7 million, respectively, of expenses related to the Outsourcing Services Agreement we have with Boise Inc., under which Boise Inc. provides a number of corporate staff services to us at cost. For more information related to the Outsourcing Services Agreement, see Note 3, Outsourcing Services Agreement, of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in "Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10-K.
Other (income) expense, net, for the year ended December 31, 2012, was $0.9 million of expense. Other (income) expense, net, for the year ended December 31, 2011, was $3.2 million of expense, including $1.3 million related to the closure of a laminated beam manufacturing plant in Emmett, Idaho, and $2.0 million in noncash asset write-downs.
Income (Loss) From Operations
Income from operations increased $90.2 million to $63.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2012, compared with a $27.0 million loss for the year ended December 31, 2011. Our improved financial results were driven primarily by higher sales volumes and prices for many of the products we manufacture and distribute, as well as leveraging of labor and manufacturing costs, as discussed above. In addition, during the year ended December 31, 2011, we recorded $3.8 million of charges related to the closure of a manufacturing plant in our Wood Products segment and noncash asset write-downs. These charges are discussed in more detail below.
Building Materials Distribution. For the year ended December 31, 2012, segment income increased $22.0 million to $24.0 million from $2.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2011. The improvement in segment income was driven primarily by a 13% improvement in sales volumes with gross margin as a percentage of sales flat, compared with the prior year. While total selling and distribution expenses increased 13%, these costs decreased as a percentage of segment sales by 90 basis points, as selling and distribution expenses did not increase at the same rate as sales. In addition, during 2011, we recorded a noncash asset write-down of $1.2 million.
Wood Products. For the year ended December 31, 2012, segment income improved $70.9 million to $55.8 million of income from a $15.1 million loss for the year ended December 31, 2011. The increase in segment income was driven primarily by higher plywood sales prices as well as lower per-unit manufacturing costs resulting from higher sales volumes of EWP and plywood and productivity improvements. These improvements were offset partially by higher wood fiber costs, an increase in selling and distribution costs, and declines in EWP prices. In addition, during 2011, we recorded charges of $2.6 million related to the closure of a manufacturing plant in our Wood Products segment and noncash asset write-downs.
Other
Foreign Exchange Gain (Loss). For the year ended December 31, 2012, foreign exchange gain (loss) was approximately break-even, compared with a loss of $0.5 million for the prior year. During 2012, the U.S. dollar, compared with the Canadian dollar, was flat.
Interest Expense. Interest expense increased $2.8 million, or 15%, to $21.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2012, compared with $19.0 million for the prior year. Amortization of deferred financing costs increased approximately $1.7 million from the prior year due primarily to the write-off of deferred financing costs associated with our senior subordinated notes that were redeemed in the fourth quarter of 2012. In addition, in conjunction with the issuance of our senior notes on October 22, 2012, we also issued a redemption notice on the remaining senior subordinated notes outstanding, which required us to pay $1.0 million of interest through the redemption date of November 21, 2012.
2011 Compared With 2010
Sales
For the year ended December 31, 2011, total sales increased $7.5 million, or 0.3%, to $2,248.1 million from $2,240.6 million during the year ended December 31, 2010, driven primarily by increases in sales volumes for LVL, I-joists, and plywood of 8%, 5%, and 2%, respectively, as compared with 2010, as well as higher byproduct sales, offset partially by a decrease in plywood prices of 6%, as compared with 2010. U.S. housing starts increased 4% in 2011, compared with the prior year. However, single-family housing starts, which are a primary driver of our sales and typically result in higher building product utilization per start than multi-family units, declined 9% for the year, compared with 2010. Commodity product prices in 2011 were much less volatile than commodity product prices in 2010. Average composite lumber and panel prices in 2011 were 4% and 10% lower, respectively, than in 2010, as reflected by Random Lengths composite lumber and panel pricing.
Building Materials Distribution. For the year ended December 31, 2011, sales increased $1.4 million, or 0.1%, to $1,779.4 million from $1,778.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2010. Compared with 2010, the overall volume of product sold and product sales prices were flat. By product line, sales of EWP increased 10%, or $19.7 million, and general line product sales increased 3%, or $25.5 million, offset by a 5%, or $43.8 million, decline in commodity sales due to lower pricing.
Wood Products. For the year ended December 31, 2011, sales, including sales to our Building Materials Distribution segment, increased $25.1 million, or 4%, to $712.5 million from $687.4 million in 2010. The increase in sales was due primarily to higher EWP and plywood sales volumes of $12.7 million and $4.6 million, respectively, as well as higher byproduct sales of $11.3 million, offset partially by lower plywood prices of $16.9 million. The increase in sales volumes also drove an increase in shipping and handling revenue of $6.8 million. In 2011, LVL and I-joist sales volumes increased 8% and 5%, respectively, due to the capture of further sales opportunities with customers in the U.S. and Canada and further EWP market penetration. Compared with 2010, I-joist prices increased 2%, while LVL prices were flat. Plywood volumes increased 2% in 2011, while plywood prices decreased 6%, compared with the prior year.
Costs and Expenses
Materials, labor and other operating expenses, including from related parties (excluding depreciation), increased $11.7 million, or 1%, to $1,992.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2011, compared with $1,981.0 million during the prior year. The increase primarily reflects higher manufacturing costs, including wood costs, labor, glues and resins and energy, as a result of higher sales volumes of EWP and plywood in our Wood Products segment. In addition, the MLO rate increased by 20 basis points. Within wood costs, delivered-log costs were 6% higher in 2011, as compared with 2010, driven by higher log costs in the Pacific Northwest, offset partially by lower costs for OSB in our I-joist production. In our Wood Products segment, the MLO rate increased by 50 basis points. The increase in the Wood Products segment MLO rate was primarily the result of higher wood fiber costs and labor costs of 230 and 40 basis points, respectively, offset partially by a 220-basis-point decrease in other manufacturing costs.
Depreciation and amortization expenses increased $2.1 million, or 6%, to $37.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2011, compared with $34.9 million during the prior year. The increase was due primarily to purchases of property and equipment and accelerated depreciation of $0.4 million on a closed manufacturing plant in our Wood Products segment.
Selling and distribution expenses increased $2.5 million, or 1%, to $205.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2011, compared with $202.5 million for the prior year. The increase was due primarily to higher employee-related expenses of $1.4 million, including costs in our Wood Products segment to support our growing EWP sales in Canada. In addition, in our Building Materials Distribution segment, higher transportation costs of $1.4 million were offset partially by lower other variable expenses. The change in transportation costs excludes payroll costs related to shipping and handling, which are included in the change in compensation and benefit costs discussed above.
General and administrative expenses, including from related party, decreased $2.8 million, or 7%, to $37.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2011, compared with $40.0 million for the prior year. The decrease was due primarily to lower incentive compensation costs.
Outsourcing Services Agreement. Included in the 2011 and 2010 costs and expenses set forth above are $14.7 million and $14.4 million, respectively, of expenses related to the Outsourcing Services Agreement we have with Boise Inc., under which Boise Inc. provides a number of corporate staff services to us at cost. For more information related to the Outsourcing Services Agreement, see Note 3, Outsourcing Services Agreement, of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in "Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10-K.
Other (income) expense, net, for the year ended December 31, 2011, was $3.2 million of expense, including $1.3 million related to the closure of a laminated beam manufacturing plant in Emmett, Idaho, and $2.0 million in noncash asset write-downs. In 2010, other (income) expense included $4.6 million of income associated with receiving proceeds from a litigation settlement related to vendor product pricing.
Income (Loss) From Operations
Loss from operations increased $13.8 million to a $27.0 million loss for the year ended December 31, 2011, compared with a $13.2 million loss for the year ended December 31, 2010, due primarily to a 20-basis-point decline in gross margins, as further described below, and $3.8 million of charges related to the closure of a laminated beam manufacturing plant in Emmett,
Idaho, and noncash asset write-downs. Also, 2010 benefited from $4.6 million of income from a litigation settlement related to vendor product pricing. These changes are discussed in more detail below.
Building Materials Distribution. Segment income decreased $9.6 million, or 83%, to $2.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2011, from $11.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2010. The decrease in income was driven by a 20-basis-point decline in gross margins resulting from competitive pressures and more stable commodity pricing, allowing for less margin opportunity, a $0.9 million increase in depreciation and amortization expense, and higher transportation costs. In addition, during 2011, we recorded $1.2 million of noncash asset write-downs. During 2010, the segment benefited from $4.1 million of income from a litigation settlement related to vendor product pricing. Excluding the $1.2 million of noncash asset write-downs from the 2011 results and the $4.1 million litigation settlement from the 2010 results, segment income declined $4.3 million.
Wood Products. Segment loss increased $7.0 million, or 86%, to $15.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2011, from $8.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2010. The increase in segment loss was driven primarily by a 6% decrease in plywood prices, offset partially by higher prices and sales volumes in our EWP business, as well as higher byproduct sales. In addition, depreciation and amortization expense and selling and distribution costs increased in 2011, compared with the prior year. During 2011, we also recorded charges of $2.6 million related to the closure of a laminated beam manufacturing plant in Emmett, Idaho, and noncash asset write-downs. During 2010, the segment benefited from $0.5 million of income from a litigation settlement related to vendor product pricing. Excluding the $2.6 million of closure costs and noncash asset write-downs from the 2011 results and the $0.5 million litigation settlement from the 2010 results, segment loss increased $3.9 million.
Other
Foreign Exchange Gain (Loss). For the year ended December 31, 2011, foreign exchange loss was $0.5 million, compared with a gain of $0.4 million for the prior year. The 2011 loss was driven primarily by the strengthening of the U.S. dollar, compared with the Canadian dollar.
Interest Expense. Interest expense decreased $2.0 million, or 10%, to $19.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2011, compared with $21.0 million for the prior year. We paid down outstanding borrowings on our revolving credit facility in April 2010 and repurchased $8.6 million of our senior subordinated notes in December 2010, which subsequently lowered our interest expense. In addition, interest expense was higher in 2010 due to the write-off of a portion of deferred financing costs associated with the April 2010 paydown and commitment reduction of our prior revolving credit facility.
Taxation
On February 4, 2013, we converted from a limited liability company to a corporation. In addition, we filed an entity classification election with the Internal Revenue Service to elect to be treated as a corporation for federal and state income tax purposes effective as of January 1, 2013. As a result of our conversion to a corporation, we expect to record deferred tax assets, net of deferred tax liabilities, on our consolidated balance sheet, the effect of which will be recorded as an income tax benefit in the Consolidated Statement of Operations. As a limited liability company, we were not subject to entity-level federal or state income taxation. Our income tax provision generally consisted of income taxes payable to state jurisdictions that do not allow for the income tax liability to be passed through to our equityholder as well as income taxes payable by our separate subsidiaries that are taxed as corporations. As a limited liability company, we had an effective tax rate of less than 1%. As a corporation, we are subject to typical corporate U.S. federal and state income tax rates, which we expect to result in a statutory tax rate of approximately 38% under current tax law. The prior net operating losses we incurred while treated as a partnership were passed through to BC Holdings with the exception of an immaterial amount associated with some state and foreign tax jurisdictions. As a result, we will not have net operating losses from periods in which we were taxed as a partnership to offset cash taxes on taxable income earned in future periods in which we will be treated as a corporation. To the extent we incur net operating losses in future periods in which we are treated as a corporation for tax purposes, such net operating losses could generally be used to offset cash taxes on future taxable income, subject to applicable tax laws.
Industry Mergers and Acquisitions
On December 13, 2012, International Paper announced that it had reached an agreement to sell its Temple-Inland Building Products division to Georgia-Pacific LLC for $750 million in cash.
There have been no other major transactions in the North American building products manufacturing and distribution sectors in the past several months.
Acquisitions
In February 2012, we completed the purchase of a sawmill in Arden, Washington, which we believe will improve fiber integration and enhance the product mix capabilities of our Inland Region lumber operations.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
On February 11, 2013, we closed on our initial public offering by issuing 13,529,412 shares of common stock. As a result of this initial public offering, we received proceeds of approximately $263 million, net of underwriting discounts and offering expenses. We used $25.0 million of the net proceeds to repay borrowings under our revolving credit facility, and we intend to use the remainder for general corporate purposes.
We ended 2012 with $54.5 million of cash and cash equivalents and $275.0 million of long-term debt. At December 31, 2012, we had $250.2 million of available liquidity (unrestricted cash and cash equivalents and unused borrowing capacity under our senior secured asset-based revolving credit facility). We used $127.9 million of cash during the year ended December 31, 2012, as cash provided by operations and issuances of long-term debt were more than offset by distributions to BC Holdings, debt payments, capital spending, and acquisitions, as discussed below.
On September 7, 2012, we entered into a first amendment to our revolving credit facility, which increased the aggregate lending commitments under our revolving credit facility from $250.0 million to $300.0 million. On October 12, 2012, we borrowed $50.0 million under our revolving credit facility to partially fund the redemption of $75.0 million of our senior subordinated notes. In addition, on October 22, 2012, we issued $250.0 million aggregate amount of our senior notes to fund the redemption of our remaining senior subordinated notes and for general corporate purposes. We repaid $25.0 million of borrowings under our revolving credit facility on December 20, 2012. See "Financing Activities" below for more information.
At December 31, 2012, our cash was invested in high-quality, short-term investments, which we record in "Cash and cash equivalents." The credit quality of our portfolio of short-term investments remains strong, with the majority of our cash and cash equivalents invested in money market funds that are broadly diversified and invest in high-quality, short-duration securities, including commercial paper, certificates of deposit, U.S. government agency securities, and similar instruments. We have significant amounts of cash and cash equivalents that are in excess of federally insured limits. Though we have not experienced any losses on our cash and cash equivalents to date and we do not anticipate incurring any losses, we cannot be assured that we will not experience losses on our short-term investments.
We believe that our cash flows from operations, combined with our current cash levels and available borrowing capacity, will be adequate to fund debt service requirements and provide cash, as required, to support our ongoing operations, capital expenditures, lease obligations, working capital, and pension contributions in 2013.
In recent years, our reported pension benefit obligations have grown significantly, primarily due to the low-interest-rate environment in the U.S. and its impact on the discount rate assumptions used to measure the present value of our pension benefit obligations. Assuming the low-interest-rate environment persists, we expect to have significant pension funding obligations. At December 31, 2012, we used a discount rate assumption of 3.75% to measure the present value of our pension benefit obligations, which resulted in a reported pension benefit obligation of approximately $504.7 million. The fair value of our pension plan assets at December 31, 2012, was approximately $312.2 million, and thus we reported an underfunded status of our defined benefit pension plans of approximately $192.5 million. If our discount rate assumption had declined by an additional 50 basis points to 3.25%, we estimate that our reported pension benefit obligation and underfunded status of our plans would have increased by approximately $37 million at December 31, 2012.
We intend to fund our future pension obligations with cash on hand, cash generated from operations, and external financing. See "Contractual Obligations" in this Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations for an estimate of future minimum pension funding obligations. Also see "Critical Accounting Estimates" in this Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and Note 11, Retirement and Benefit Plans, of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in "Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10-K for a further discussion of the assumptions used to measure the present value of our pension benefit obligations.
Sources and Uses of Cash
We generate cash from sales of our products, short-term and long-term borrowings, and equity offerings. Our primary uses of cash are for expenses related to the manufacture and distribution of building products, including inventory purchased for resale, fiber, labor, energy, and glues and resins. In addition to paying for ongoing operating costs, we use cash to make distributions to equityholders, invest in our business, repay debt, and meet our contractual obligations and commercial commitments. Below is a discussion of our sources and uses of cash for operating activities, investing activities, and financing activities.
|
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Year Ended December 31 |
| 2012 | | 2011 | | 2010 |
| (thousands) |
Net cash provided by (used for) operations | $ | 80,136 |
| | $ | (42,981 | ) | | $ | 10,287 |
|
Net cash used for investment | (29,434 | ) | | (36,617 | ) | | (35,453 | ) |
Net cash provided by (used for) financing | (178,650 | ) | | (2,548 | ) | | 2,666 |
|
Operating Activities
2012 Compared With 2011
In 2012, our operating activities generated $80.1 million of cash, compared with $43.0 million of cash used for operating activities in 2011. Compared with 2011, the $123.1 million increase in cash provided by operations in 2012 relates primarily to the following:
| |
• | A $70.9 million increase in income in our Wood Products segment and a $22.0 million increase in income in our Building Materials Distribution segment. As discussed under "Operating Results" above, the improvement in results for 2012 was the result of higher sales volumes and prices for many of the products we manufacture and distribute, as well as leveraging of labor and manufacturing costs. |
| |
• | A $6.7 million increase in working capital during 2012, compared with a $34.8 million increase in working capital during 2011. Working capital is subject to cyclical operating needs, the timing of the collection of receivables, the payment of payables and expenses, and to a lesser extent, seasonal fluctuations in our operations. The increases in working capital in both periods were attributable primarily to higher receivables and inventories, offset partially by an increase in accounts payable and accrued liabilities. The increases in receivables in both periods primarily reflect increased sales of approximately 16% and 11%, comparing sales for the months of December 2012 and 2011 with sales for the months of December 2011 and 2010, respectively. While inventory turns improved in 2012, compared with 2011, inventories increased in 2012 due primarily to an increase in finished goods inventory in each of our segments due to product line expansions and an improvement in demand for our products from higher residential construction activity and market share gains. Accounts payable and accrued liabilities increased in 2012 driven primarily by higher compensation and benefit-related accrued liabilities, as well as higher accounts payable, driven by higher inventories. We accrued more incentive compensation during the year ended December 31, 2012, compared with 2011, resulting from improved results of operations in 2012. We expect to pay out the majority of accrued incentive compensation in the first quarter of 2013. |
| |
• | A decrease in cash contributions to our pension plans. During 2012, we used $8.5 million of cash to make pension contributions, compared with $13.6 million during 2011. |
2011 Compared With 2010
In 2011, our operating activities used $43.0 million of cash, compared with $10.3 million of cash provided by operating activities in 2010. Compared with 2010, the $53.3 million increase in cash used for operations in 2011 relates primarily to the following:
| |
• | A $9.6 million decrease in income in our Building Materials Distribution segment and a $7.0 million increase in losses in our Wood Products segment. The decline in results for 2011 was the result of a 20-basis-point decline in gross margins and higher transportation costs in our Building Materials Distribution segment. During 2010, we recorded $4.6 million of income for cash received from a litigation settlement related to vendor product pricing, of |
which $4.1 million was recorded in the Building Materials Distribution segment and $0.5 million in the Wood Products segment. Also, in our Wood Products segment, the increased loss was driven by a decrease in plywood selling prices and an increase in selling and distribution costs, offset partially by higher prices and sales volumes in our EWP business as well as higher byproduct sales.
| |
• | A $34.8 million increase in working capital during 2011, compared with a $2.6 million increase in working capital during 2010. Working capital is subject to cyclical operating needs, the timing of the collection of receivables, the payment of payables and expenses, and to a lesser extent, seasonal fluctuations in our operations. The increases in working capital in both periods were attributable primarily to higher receivables and inventories, offset partially by an increase in accounts payable and accrued liabilities. The increases in receivables in both periods primarily reflect increased sales of approximately 11% and 14%, comparing sales for the months of December 2011 and 2010 with sales for the months of December 2010 and 2009, respectively. The increase in inventories in 2011 primarily represents an increase in log and plywood inventory in our Wood Products segment. Accounts payable and accrued liabilities increased in 2011, as higher accounts payable, driven by higher inventories, were mostly offset by lower compensation and benefit-related accrued liabilities. We accrued less incentive compensation during the year ended December 31, 2011, compared with 2010, and the majority of the employee incentive compensation that was accrued in 2010 was paid out in first quarter 2011. |
| |
• | An increase in cash contributions to our pension plans. During 2011, we used $13.6 million of cash to make pension contributions, compared with $3.9 million during 2010. |
Investment Activities
Net cash used for investing activities was $29.4 million, $36.6 million, and $35.5 million during 2012, 2011, and 2010, respectively.
2012
During the year ended December 31, 2012, we used approximately $27.4 million of cash for purchases of property and equipment, which included expenditures for the rebuild of veneer dryers, as well as costs related to other replacement projects and ongoing environmental compliance. In addition, we spent $2.4 million for the acquisition of a sawmill in Arden, Washington, which we believe will improve fiber integration and enhance the product mix capabilities in our Inland Region lumber operations.
Details of 2012 capital investment by segment are included in the table below:
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Year Ended December 31, 2012 |
| Acquisition/ Expansion | | Quality/ Efficiency (a) | | Replacement, Environmental, and Other (b) | | Total |
| (millions) |
Building Materials Distribution | $ | 1.7 |
| | $ | 0.7 |
| | $ | 4.7 |
| | $ | 7.1 |
|
Wood Products | 2.4 |
| | 4.4 |
| | 15.9 |
| | 22.7 |
|
Corporate and Other | — |
| | — |
| | — |
| | — |
|
| $ | 4.1 |
| | $ | 5.1 |
| | $ | 20.6 |
| | $ | 29.7 |
|
_______________________________________
| |
(a) | Quality and efficiency projects include quality improvements, modernization, energy, and cost-saving projects. |
| |
(b) | During 2012, we spent approximately $1.3 million on environmental compliance. We expect to spend approximately $3.5 million in 2013 for this purpose. |
We expect capital expenditures in 2013 to total approximately $38 million to $43 million, excluding acquisitions. This level of capital expenditures could increase or decrease as a result of a number of factors, including our financial results, future economic conditions, and timing of equipment purchases. Our capital spending in 2013 will be for business improvement and quality/efficiency projects, replacement projects, and ongoing environmental compliance.
2011
During the year ended December 31, 2011, we used approximately $33.5 million of cash for purchases of property and equipment, which included expansions of certain facilities (particularly Dallas, Texas) in our Building Materials Distribution segment. In addition, we spent $5.8 million for the acquisition of a laminated beam and decking manufacturing plant in Homedale, Idaho, and received proceeds of $3.1 million from the sale of assets, including the sale of certain land and timber holdings.
Details of 2011 capital investment by segment are included in the table below:
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Year Ended December 31, 2011 |
| Acquisition/ Expansion | | Quality/ Efficiency (a) | | Replacement, Environmental, and Other (b) | | Total |
| (millions) |
Building Materials Distribution | $ | 3.9 |
| | $ | 0.1 |
| | $ | 6.0 |
| | $ | 10.0 |
|
Wood Products | 5.9 |
| | 6.2 |
| | 17.2 |
| | 29.3 |
|
Corporate and Other | — |
| | — |
| | — |
| | — |
|
| $ | 9.8 |
| | $ | 6.3 |
| | $ | 23.2 |
| | $ | 39.3 |
|
_______________________________________
| |
(a) | Quality and efficiency projects include quality improvements, modernization, energy, and cost-saving projects. |
| |
(b) | During 2011, we spent approximately $2.4 million on environmental compliance. |
2010
During 2010, we used approximately $35.8 million of cash for purchases of property and equipment, which included expenditures for a new veneer dryer as well as costs related to other replacement projects and ongoing environmental compliance. During 2010, we received $1.3 million of net proceeds from the sale of property and equipment.
Details of 2010 capital investment by segment are included in the table below:
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Year Ended December 31, 2010 |
| Acquisition/ Expansion | | Quality/ Efficiency (a) | | Replacement, Environmental, and Other (b) | | Total |
| (millions) |
Building Materials Distribution | $ | 0.9 |
| | $ | — |
| | $ | 12.0 |
| | $ | 12.9 |
|
Wood Products | 0.4 |
| | 12.3 |
| | 10.2 |
| | 22.9 |
|
Corporate and Other | — |
| | — |
| | — |
| | — |
|
| $ | 1.3 |
| | $ | 12.3 |
| | $ | 22.2 |
| | $ | 35.8 |
|
_______________________________________
| |
(a) | Quality and efficiency projects include quality improvements, modernization, energy, and cost-saving projects. |
| |
(b) | During 2010, we spent approximately $1.7 million on environmental compliance. |
Financing Activities
On February 11, 2013, we closed on our initial public offering by issuing 13,529,412 shares of common stock. As a result of this initial public offering, we received proceeds of approximately $263 million, net of underwriting discounts and offering expenses.
During 2012, we repaid our senior subordinated notes with cash on hand, borrowings under our revolving credit facility, and the issuance of senior notes. On October 12, 2012, we borrowed $50.0 million under our revolving credit facility to partially fund the redemption of $75.0 million of our senior subordinated notes. In addition, on October 22, 2012, we issued $250.0 million aggregate amount of our senior notes to fund the redemption of our remaining senior subordinated notes and for general corporate purposes. We repaid $25.0 million of borrowings under our revolving credit facility on December 20, 2012. We also used $5.8 million of cash for financing costs related primarily to our senior notes. In addition, during 2012, we made $228.3 million of distributions to BC Holdings, our equityholder.
During 2011, we used $2.5 million of cash for financing costs related to our revolving credit facility, as discussed below.
During 2010, we received $86.1 million from BC Holdings from its sale of 18.3 million Boise Inc. shares. We repurchased $8.6 million of senior subordinated notes for $8.5 million, plus accrued interest. On April 1, 2010, we borrowed $45.0 million under our revolving credit facility, bringing the total amount outstanding to $120.0 million. On April 30, 2010, we repaid the $120.0 million, and we permanently reduced the lending commitments by a like amount, bringing the total commitments under our revolving credit facility to $170.0 million. This debt reduction, in combination with capital spending, fulfilled our obligations under the indenture governing our senior subordinated notes with respect to net available cash received in connection with the sale of Boise Inc. shares.
Debt Structure
At December 31, 2012 and 2011, our long-term debt was as follows:
|
| | | | | | | |
| December 31 |
| 2012 | | 2011 |
| (millions) |
Asset-based revolving credit facility | $ | 25.0 |
| | $ | — |
|
6.375% senior notes | 250.0 |
| | — |
|
7.125% senior subordinated notes | — |
| | 219.6 |
|
Total long-term debt | $ | 275.0 |
| | $ | 219.6 |
|
Asset-Based Revolving Credit Facility
On July 13, 2011, Boise Cascade and its principal operating subsidiaries, Boise Cascade Wood Products, L.L.C., and Boise Cascade Building Materials Distribution, L.L.C., as borrowers, and Boise Cascade Wood Products Holdings Corp., as guarantor, entered into a $250 million senior secured asset-based revolving credit facility (Revolving Credit Facility) with Wells Fargo Capital Finance, L.L.C., as agent, and the banks named therein as lenders. Borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility are constrained by a borrowing base formula dependent upon levels of eligible receivables and inventory reduced by outstanding borrowings and letters of credit (Availability). On September 7, 2012, we entered into a First Amendment to Credit Agreement, which increased the aggregate lending commitments under the Revolving Credit Facility to $300 million. Other key terms of the Credit Agreement were unchanged by the Amendment. On December 20, 2012, we entered into a Limited Consent and Amendment to Loan Documents with the lenders under our revolving credit facility. The consent and amendment provided consent to, among other things, the distributions of $225.0 million in aggregate to BC Holdings made in late December 2012 and our conversion to a corporation effected on February 4, 2013.
The Revolving Credit Facility has a maturity date of July 13, 2016, and is secured by a first-priority security interest in substantially all of our assets, except for property and equipment. The proceeds of borrowings under the agreement are available for working capital and other general corporate purposes.
Interest rates under the Revolving Credit Facility are based, at the company's election, on either the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) or a base rate, as defined in the agreement, plus a spread over the index elected that ranges from 1.75% to 2.25% for loans based on LIBOR and from 0.75% to 1.25% for loans based on the base rate. The spread is determined on the basis of a pricing grid that results in a higher spread as average quarterly Availability declines. Letters of credit are subject to a fronting fee payable to the issuing bank and a fee payable to the lenders equal to the LIBOR margin rate. In addition, we are required to pay an unused commitment fee at a rate ranging from 0.375% to 0.50% per annum (based on facility utilization) of the average unused portion of the lending commitments.
The Revolving Credit Facility contains customary nonfinancial covenants, including a negative pledge covenant and restrictions on new indebtedness, investments, distributions to equityholders, asset sales, and affiliate transactions, the scope of which are dependent on the Availability existing from time to time. The Revolving Credit Facility also contains a requirement that we meet a 1:1 fixed-charge coverage ratio (FCCR) if Availability falls below the greater of $31.25 million or 12.5% of the aggregate lending commitments. Availability exceeded the minimum threshold amounts required for testing of the FCCR at all times since entering into the Revolving Credit Facility, and Availability at December 31, 2012, was $195.6 million.
The Revolving Credit Facility generally permits dividends only if certain conditions are met, including complying with the minimum Availability requirements and having a fixed-charge coverage ratio of 1:1 on a pro forma basis.
At December 31, 2011, we had no borrowings outstanding under the Revolving Credit Facility. On October 12, 2012, we borrowed $50.0 million under the Revolving Credit Facility to partially fund the redemption of $75.0 million of our senior subordinated notes, as discussed further below. On December 20, 2012, we repaid $25.0 million, resulting in $25.0 million outstanding under the Revolving Credit Facility at December 31, 2012. The minimum and maximum borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility were zero and $50.0 million, respectively, during the year ended December 31, 2012. At December 31, 2012 and 2011, we had approximately $10.0 million and $11.3 million, respectively, of letters of credit outstanding. These letters of credit and borrowings reduced our borrowing capacity under the Revolving Credit Facility by an equivalent amount.
Senior Subordinated Notes
In October 2004, Boise Cascade issued $400 million of 7.125% senior subordinated notes due in 2014. In July 2005, we completed an exchange offer whereby all of our senior subordinated notes were exchanged for registered securities with identical terms (other than terms relating to registration rights) to the notes issued in October 2004. We could redeem all or part of the senior subordinated notes at any time at redemption prices set forth in the indenture governing such notes. Redemption prices reduced to par value in October 2012. Subsequent to the exchange offer, we repurchased a portion of the senior subordinated notes, resulting in $219.6 million of notes outstanding at December 31, 2011. On October 15, 2012, we redeemed $75.0 million of the senior subordinated notes at par value with $25.0 million of cash on hand and $50.0 million borrowed under our Revolving Credit Facility. Net proceeds from our senior notes offering (as discussed below in "Debt Refinancing") were used to redeem $144.6 million of the senior subordinated notes, plus $1.0 million of interest through the related redemption date of November 21, 2012.
Debt Refinancing
On October 22, 2012, Boise Cascade, L.L.C. (as the predecessor to Boise Cascade Company) and its wholly owned subsidiary, Boise Cascade Finance Corporation ("Boise Finance" and together with Boise Cascade, L.L.C., the "Co-issuers"), issued $250 million of 6.375% senior notes due November 1, 2020 (Senior Notes) through a private placement that is exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (Securities Act). Interest on our Senior Notes is payable semiannually in arrears on May 1 and November 1, commencing on May 1, 2013. As a result of this refinancing, we extended the maturity of our debt and lowered our interest rate. The Senior Notes are guaranteed by each of our existing and future direct or indirect domestic subsidiaries that is a guarantor or co-borrower under our Revolving Credit Facility, other than Boise Finance.
Following the sale of our Senior Notes, as noted above, we used a portion of the net proceeds of the sale to repay the senior subordinated notes at par plus interest through the redemption date. The remaining proceeds are available for general corporate purposes.
In connection with the issuance of the Senior Notes, the Co-issuers entered into a registration rights agreement, dated as of October 22, 2012 (Senior Notes Registration Rights Agreement). The Senior Notes Registration Rights Agreement requires us to register under the Securities Act the Senior Notes having substantially identical terms to those of the Senior Notes (Exchange Notes) and to complete an exchange of the privately placed Senior Notes for the publicly registered Exchange Notes on or prior to October 21, 2013, or in certain circumstances, to file and keep effective a shelf registration statement for resale of the Senior Notes. If we fail to satisfy these obligations, we will pay additional interest up to 0.25% per annum to holders of the Senior Notes for the first 90-day period immediately following such date and an additional 0.25% per annum with respect to each subsequent 90-day period, up to a maximum rate of 1.0% per annum.
The Senior Notes are senior unsecured obligations and rank equally with all of the Co-issuers' and guarantors' existing and future senior indebtedness, senior to all of their existing and future subordinated indebtedness, effectively subordinated to all of their present and future senior secured indebtedness (including all borrowings with respect to our Revolving Credit
Facility to the extent of the value of the assets securing such indebtedness), and structurally subordinated to the indebtedness of any subsidiaries that do not guarantee the Senior Notes.
The terms of the indenture governing the Senior Notes, among other things, limit the ability of the Co-issuers and certain Boise Cascade subsidiaries to: incur additional debt; declare or pay dividends; redeem stock or make other distributions to stockholders; make investments; create liens on assets; consolidate, merge, or transfer substantially all of their assets; enter into transactions with affiliates; and sell or transfer certain assets.
The indenture governing the Senior Notes provides for customary events of default, which include (subject in certain cases to customary grace and cure periods and notification requirements), among others: nonpayment of principal or interest; breach of other agreements in the indenture governing the Senior Notes; defaults in failure to pay certain other indebtedness; the rendering of judgments to pay certain amounts of money against the Co-issuers, the guarantors, or certain Boise Cascade subsidiaries; the failure of certain guarantees to be enforceable; and certain events of bankruptcy or insolvency.
Cash Paid for Interest
For the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011, and 2010, cash payments for interest were $18.1 million, $16.7 million, and $18.6 million, respectively.
Contractual Obligations
In the table below, we set forth our enforceable and legally binding obligations as of December 31, 2012. Some of the amounts included in the table are based on management's estimates and assumptions about these obligations, including their duration, the possibility of renewal, anticipated actions by third parties, and other factors. Because these estimates and assumptions are necessarily subjective, our actual payments may vary from those reflected in the table. Purchase orders made in the ordinary course of business are excluded from the table below. Any amounts for which we are liable under purchase orders are reflected on the Consolidated Balance Sheets as accounts payable and accrued liabilities.
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Payments Due by Period |
| 2013 | | 2014-2015 | | 2016-2017 | | Thereafter | | Total |
| (millions) |
Long-term debt (a) | $ | — |
| | $ | — |
| | $ | 25.0 |
| | $ | 250.0 |
| | $ | 275.0 |
|
Interest (b) | 16.8 |
| | 32.9 |
| | 32.2 |
| | 47.8 |
| | 129.7 |
|
Operating leases (c) | 12.3 |
| | 22.5 |
| | 17.6 |
| | 36.7 |
| | 89.2 |
|
Purchase obligations | | | | | | | | | |
Raw materials and finished goods inventory (d) | 100.1 |
| | 116.0 |
| | 5.6 |
| | 5.4 |
| | 227.1 |
|
Utilities (e) | 8.6 |
| | — |
| | — |
| | — |
| | 8.6 |
|
Other | 1.5 |
| | 0.4 |
| | — |
| | — |
| | 1.9 |
|
Other long-term liabilities reflected on our Balance Sheet | | | | | | | | | |
Compensation and benefits, including pension funding obligations (f) | 17.0 |
| | 49.0 |
| | 42.1 |
| | 105.2 |
| | 213.3 |
|
Other (g)(h) | 2.7 |
| | 3.0 |
| | 1.8 |
| | 5.7 |
| | 13.2 |
|
| $ | 159.0 |
| | $ | 223.8 |
| | $ | 124.3 |
| |