PotlatchDeltic Corp. reports decline in first-quarter earnings

Spokane-based PotlatchDeltic Corp. reported a decline in first-quarter income on Monday.

PotlatchDeltic reported net income of $6.6 million – or 10 cents per share – for the first quarter of 2019, a steep decline compared with results from the first quarter of 2018, when the company reported net income of $14.9 million, or 29 cents per share.

“Our first quarter results reflect seasonally lower activity and challenging operating conditions,” Mike Covey, chairman and chief executive officer of Potlatch Deltic Corp., said in a statement. “We continue to expect improvement in lumber prices as the building season gets underway in earnest.”

“Meanwhile, our balance sheet remains strong and provides the flexibility to drive shareholder value,” he added.

PotlatchDeltic completed a merger with Deltic Timber of Arkansas last year and closed on the sale of its legacy medium-density fiberboard plant in the first quarter of 2019.

PotlatchDeltic is a real estate investment trust that owns more than 1.9 million acres of timberland in Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Louisiana, Minnesota and Mississippi.