CNN.com - N.Z. lumber company posts strong profit
Jackson Reed
Published Apr 12, 2026
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AUCKLAND, New Zealand (CNN) -- A strong June quarter has helped lift Carter Holt Harvey, Australia and New Zealand's biggest lumber producer, to a NZ$73 million ($35 million) net profit for the six months to June.
Carter Holt said Wednesday its June quarter profit was NZ$56 million (about $27 million).
The result was buoyed by higher wood prices and is Carter Holt's best in six quarters.
It compares to a loss of NZ$34 million in the same quarter of 2001.
In a statement to the New Zealand Stock Exchange Wednesday, Carter Holt said net earnings for the half year to the end of June 2002 hit NZ$73 million, compared with a loss of NZ$15 million for the same period last year.
Carter Holt is half owned by the U.S.-based International Paper -- the world's largest forest products company. International Paper has annual sales of more than $28 billion and owns 4.86 million hectares of forest in 50 countries.
Carter Holt is New Zealand's second largest company by market capitalization, with sales of NZ$3.75 billion ($1.82 billion).
As New Zealand's largest forest owner, the company manages around 330,000 hectares of predominantly plantation radiata pine softwood forests.
Continued growth
Chief executive Chris Liddell attributed the result to improving markets and a management focus on several initiatives.
"We had sales of over NZ$1 billion for the last quarter -- the result of developing new businesses, markets, products & services. Our exports continue to grow with New Zealand export sales for the first half up over 19 percent on the same period last year", said Liddell.
Carter Holt's stock has gained 14 percent this year, around three times its total gain in 2001.
"We've also maintained our focus on working capital, reducing it by NZ$202 million over the last 12 months", said Liddell. He said the company's balance sheet showed net interest bearing debt of NZ$420 million less than last year.
Short term contraction forecast
Liddell said the global outlook was mixed, but the company expected the rest of 2002 to see a continuation of the "solid operating performance".
"Log prices are expected to increase slightly through the second half of the year due to good demand in key Korean and Chinese markets," he said.
Liddell said that while he believes the long-term outlook for the Australian residential construction sector is good, in the shorter term Carter Holt expects a falloff in demand.
"A lot of that inherent growth in Australia, and strength in the economy, has helped keep those housing volumes up, but we would say by the end of this year or the beginning of next year, all other things being equal, for it to come off slightly," Liddell told journalists.
