York Timbers blames bad full-year results on Numsa strike

Listed forestry company York Timbers Holdings has blamed an employee strike for its poor full-year results, saying it lost 239 production days as a result of the industrial action.

The company, which owns plantations and mills, said on Monday the impact of National Union of Metalworkers of SA’s (Numsa’s) protracted strike on revenue was R225m. Impact on earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) was R131m.

Wage staff lost about R52m due to the no-work-no-pay policy, York said.

“Stock increased by R74m as access to sites was prevented by striking workers, impacting York’s ability to service customer orders. The strike ended in January 2019 with operations returning to normal, resulting in a strong performance over the second half of the financial year,” York said.

York said local demand for plywood — which is a strong thin wooden board consisting of layers glued and pressed together — was weak. It said dumping of uncertified Brazilian plywood further depressed local prices.

The company said revenue for the year was down 12% to R1.6bn mainly due to lower sales volumes as a result of the strike.

Cash generated from operations decreased by 21% to R224m, while earnings per share decreased from 44c to a loss per share of 11c. Headline earnings per share increased 45c to 50c.

The company did not declare a dividend.

York Timbers said it was re-establishing export contracts into markets where its product were certified. These included North America, Europe and UK.

York share price was unchanged at R1.60 on Monday.

njobenis@businesslive.co.za