Current Report dated April 3, 2003

 


 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 


 

FORM 8-K

 

CURRENT REPORT

 

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

 

Date of Report: April 3, 2003

(Date of earliest event reported)

 


 

POTLATCH CORPORATION

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 


 

Delaware

 

1-5313

 

82-0156045

(State or Other Jurisdiction

of Incorporation)

 

(Commission

File Number)

 

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification Number)

 

 

601 W. Riverside Avenue, Suite 1100, Spokane WA,

 

99201

(Address of principal executive offices)

 

(Zip Code)

 

 

509-835-1500

(Registrant’s telephone number,

including area code)

 



 

Item 9.

 

At a meeting with industry analysts today, the Company announced the following:

 

    In 2002, the Company continued a business-by-business assessment of labor and other costs and initiated cost-saving actions and programs, including a companywide reduction in salaried staffing in the fourth quarter that the Company expects will produce annual savings of approximately $7 million.

 

    In early January of 2003, the company signed a four-year contract with the unions representing workers at the Company’s Lewiston, Idaho, pulp-based operations. The Company expects the new contract in Lewiston will result in annual savings of approximately $5 million.

 

    In the fourth quarter of 2002, the Company began a 30 percent expansion of softwood lumber production at its Arkansas sawmills in Warren and Prescott through the addition of a third shift. That expansion, coupled with productivity improvements throughout the division, is expected to reduce unit costs and increase the Company’s overall lumber production by roughly 15 percent in 2003.

 

    In the fourth quarter of 2002, the Company signed an option agreement with the internationally recognized Trust for Public Land (TPL) to pursue a working forest conservation easement on a substantial portion of the Company’s Idaho timberlands. The agreement calls for a phased evaluation of easement candidate properties, starting in 2003. If approved by the Company’s Board of Directors, properties selected during the evaluation process will be permanently protected from commercial and residential development, while permitting sustainable timber production and recreational and scenic uses. In exchange for foregoing development opportunities, the Company will receive compensation—raised from public and private sources—that TPL believes can exceed approximately $40 million, over several years.

 

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth above, including statements concerning expected annual savings, expected decreases in unit production costs, expected increases in lumber production, and estimates of future compensation for conservation land easements, are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s best estimates and assumptions regarding future events and are therefore subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include cyclical conditions in the forest products industry, competitive conditions and prices in the Company’s markets, changes in wood fiber, energy and other variable operating expenses, the Company’s ability to achieve annual cost savings and to increase lumber production, changes in environmental laws and unforeseen environmental liabilities and expenditures, the Company’s substantial indebtedness and its ability to maintain compliance with financial covenants in its loan agreements, fires and other natural disasters, labor disruptions and other risks and

 

2


uncertainties described from time to time in Potlatch’s reports filed with the SEC, including its Annual Report in Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2002. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date hereof.

 

The following information is being provided under Item 12:

 

As disclosed in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2002, which was filed with the Commission on March 7, 2003, we have divided our former Pulp and Paper segment into two separate segments, the Consumer Products segment and the Pulp and Paperboard segment, effective January 1, 2003. The following table presents segment sales and operating income data for all reporting periods in 2002, reclassified to conform to our current reporting segments.

 

3


 

Potlatch Corporation

Reclassification of Business Segment Information

(Unaudited)

 

(Dollars in thousands)


                                                

Period ended


  

3/31/02


    

3 months 6/30/02


    

6 months 6/30/02


    

3 months 9/30/02


    

9 months 9/30/02


    

3 months 12/31/02


    

12 months 12/31/02


 

Segment Sales

                                                              

Resource

  

$

119,623

 

  

$

88,115

 

  

$

207,738

 

  

$

106,301

 

  

$

314,039

 

  

$

90,465

 

  

$

404,504

 

    


  


  


  


  


  


  


Wood products

                                                              

Oriented strand board

  

 

46,665

 

  

 

46,840

 

  

 

93,505

 

  

 

47,538

 

  

 

141,043

 

  

 

46,250

 

  

 

187,293

 

Lumber

  

 

67,433

 

  

 

71,850

 

  

 

139,283

 

  

 

58,866

 

  

 

198,149

 

  

 

51,641

 

  

 

249,790

 

Plywood

  

 

9,314

 

  

 

8,862

 

  

 

18,176

 

  

 

8,698

 

  

 

26,874

 

  

 

8,041

 

  

 

34,915

 

Particleboard

  

 

3,176

 

  

 

4,575

 

  

 

7,751

 

  

 

4,051

 

  

 

11,802

 

  

 

2,281

 

  

 

14,083

 

Other

  

 

5,986

 

  

 

6,030

 

  

 

12,016

 

  

 

5,140

 

  

 

17,156

 

  

 

5,921

 

  

 

23,077

 

    


  


  


  


  


  


  


    

 

132,574

 

  

 

138,157

 

  

 

270,731

 

  

 

124,293

 

  

 

395,024

 

  

 

114,134

 

  

 

509,158

 

    


  


  


  


  


  


  


Pulp and paperboard

                                                              

Paperboard

  

 

93,917

 

  

 

98,969

 

  

 

192,886

 

  

 

100,255

 

  

 

293,141

 

  

 

101,944

 

  

 

395,085

 

Pulp

  

 

10,762

 

  

 

11,538

 

  

 

22,300

 

  

 

13,465

 

  

 

35,765

 

  

 

12,718

 

  

 

48,483

 

    


  


  


  


  


  


  


    

 

104,679

 

  

 

110,507

 

  

 

215,186

 

  

 

113,720

 

  

 

328,906

 

  

 

114,662

 

  

 

443,568

 

    


  


  


  


  


  


  


Consumer products

  

 

81,034

 

  

 

81,326

 

  

 

162,360

 

  

 

74,718

 

  

 

237,078

 

  

 

78,630

 

  

 

315,708

 

    


  


  


  


  


  


  


    

 

437,910

 

  

 

418,105

 

  

 

856,015

 

  

 

419,032

 

  

 

1,275,047

 

  

 

397,891

 

  

 

1,672,938

 

Elimination of intersegment sales

  

 

(119,721

)

  

 

(84,927

)

  

 

(204,648

)

  

 

(94,972

)

  

 

(299,620

)

  

 

(87,101

)

  

 

(386,721

)

    


  


  


  


  


  


  


Total consolidated net sales

  

$

318,189

 

  

$

333,178

 

  

$

651,367

 

  

$

324,060

 

  

$

975,427

 

  

$

310,790

 

  

$

1,286,217

 

    


  


  


  


  


  


  


Intersegment sales or transfers

                                                              

Resource

  

$

108,282

 

  

$

74,234

 

  

$

182,516

 

  

$

81,605

 

  

$

264,121

 

  

$

75,048

 

  

$

339,169

 

Wood products

  

 

3,838

 

  

 

3,327

 

  

 

7,165

 

  

 

2,723

 

  

 

9,888

 

  

 

2,601

 

  

 

12,489

 

Pulp and paperboard

  

 

7,577

 

  

 

7,348

 

  

 

14,925

 

  

 

10,617

 

  

 

25,542

 

  

 

9,433

 

  

 

34,975

 

Consumer products

  

 

24

 

  

 

18

 

  

 

42

 

  

 

27

 

  

 

69

 

  

 

19

 

  

 

88

 

    


  


  


  


  


  


  


Total

  

$

119,721

 

  

$

84,927

 

  

$

204,648

 

  

$

94,972

 

  

$

299,620

 

  

$

87,101

 

  

$

386,721

 

    


  


  


  


  


  


  


Operating Income (Loss)

                                                              

Resource

  

$

10,025

 

  

$

12,502

 

  

$

22,527

 

  

$

19,742

 

  

$

42,269

 

  

$

20,285

 

  

$

62,554

 

Wood products

  

 

(1,116

)

  

 

853

 

  

 

(263

)

  

 

(9,126

)

  

 

(9,389

)

  

 

(17,642

)

  

 

(27,031

)

Pulp and paperboard

  

 

(19,048

)

  

 

(7,327

)

  

 

(26,375

)

  

 

(6,506

)

  

 

(32,881

)

  

 

(9,940

)

  

 

(42,821

)

Consumer products

  

 

13,308

 

  

 

12,493

 

  

 

25,801

 

  

 

9,377

 

  

 

35,178

 

  

 

7,628

 

  

 

42,806

 

Eliminations and adjustments

  

 

338

 

  

 

17

 

  

 

355

 

  

 

309

 

  

 

664

 

  

 

(4,053

)

  

 

(3,389

)

    


  


  


  


  


  


  


    

 

3,507

 

  

 

18,538

 

  

 

22,045

 

  

 

13,796

 

  

 

35,841

 

  

 

(3,722

)

  

 

32,119

 

Corporate

  

 

(27,995

)

  

 

(29,287

)

  

 

(57,282

)

  

 

(30,817

)

  

 

(88,099

)

  

 

(27,517

)

  

 

(115,616

)

    


  


  


  


  


  


  


Consolidated loss from continuing operations before taxes on income

  

$

(24,488

)

  

$

(10,749

)

  

$

(35,237

)

  

$

(17,021

)

  

$

(52,258

)

  

$

(31,239

)

  

$

(83,497

)

    


  


  


  


  


  


  


 

4


 

SIGNATURE

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

 

Dated: April 3, 2003

 

POTLATCH CORPORATION

 

By:

 

/S/    MALCOLM A. RYERSE     


   

Malcolm A. Ryerse

   

Corporate Secretary