VANCOUVER, BC, Feb. 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ – West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (“West Fraser” or the “Company”) (TSX and NYSE:WFG) reported today the fourth quarter results of 2025 (“Q4-25”). All dollar amounts in this news release are expressed in U.S. dollars unless noted otherwise.
Fourth Quarter Highlights
- Sales of $1.165 billion and earnings of $(751) million, or $(9.63) per diluted share
- Pre-tax earnings included $712 million of restructuring and impairment charges
- Adjusted EBITDA1 of $(79) million, representing (7%) of sales
- Lumber segment Adjusted EBITDA1 of $(57) million, excluding $473 million of restructuring and impairment charges
- North America Engineered Wood Products (“NA EWP”) segment Adjusted EBITDA1 of $(24) million, excluding $239 million of restructuring and impairment charges
- Pulp & Paper segment Adjusted EBITDA1 of $(1) million
- Europe Engineered Wood Products (“Europe EWP”) segment Adjusted EBITDA1 of $4 million
- Repurchased 108,079 shares for aggregate consideration of $7 million
Annual Highlights
- Sales of $5.462 billion and earnings of $(937) million, or $(12.08) per diluted share
- Pre-tax earnings included $712 million of restructuring and impairment charges
- Adjusted EBITDA1 of $56 million, representing 1% of sales
- Lumber segment Adjusted EBITDA1 of $(100) million, including $67 million of export duty expense attributable to the finalization of AR6 but excluding $473 million of restructuring and impairment charges
- North America Engineered Wood Products (“NA EWP”) segment Adjusted EBITDA1 of $153 million, excluding $239 million of restructuring and impairment charges
- Pulp & Paper segment Adjusted EBITDA1 of $(2) million
- Europe Engineered Wood Products (“Europe EWP”) segment Adjusted EBITDA1 of $5 million
- Repurchased 1,639,207 shares for aggregate consideration of $124 million
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1. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure. Refer to the “Non-GAAP and Other Specified Financial Measures” section of this document for more information on this measure. |
“The fourth quarter of 2025 was another challenging period for West Fraser, marked by elevated softwood lumber duties and tariffs, southern yellow pine lumber and OSB oversupply, and tempered demand for many of our wood-based building products, much of which can be attributed to housing affordability constraints that have continued into early 2026. Notwithstanding this environment, we made great advances with some of our major capital investments that will improve both our cost profile and our operating flexibility, completing construction and starting-up our modernized lumber mill in Henderson, Texas, and effectively completing the ramp-up of our large-scale OSB mill in Allendale, South Carolina. We did have to make some difficult decisions late in the year with announced closures or curtailments of uneconomic lumber and OSB mills, but these decisions were made to size our portfolio to our customers’ demand and with a view to make the Company stronger and better positioned for the future,” said Sean McLaren, West Fraser’s President and CEO. “We are steadfast in our strategy and will continue to take the necessary steps to ensure our operations remain safe places to work, flexible, and able to effectively serve our customers while controlling costs. We will continue to evaluate strategic investments and follow a balanced capital allocation strategy that allows us to grow while maintaining robust liquidity, increasing through-cycle resilience and creating long-term shareholder value.”
Results Summary
Fourth quarter sales were $1.165 billion, compared to $1.307 billion in the third quarter of 2025. Fourth quarter earnings were $(751) million, or $(9.63) per diluted share, compared to earnings of $(204) million, or $(2.63) per diluted share in the third quarter of 2025. Fourth quarter Adjusted EBITDA was $(79) million compared to $(144) million in the third quarter of 2025.
Full year sales were $5.462 billion, compared to $6.174 billion in 2024. Full year earnings were $(937) million, or $(12.08) per diluted share, compared to earnings of $(5) million, or $(0.07) per diluted share in 2024. Full year Adjusted EBITDA was $56 million compared to $673 million in 2024.
Tariffs
Canadian softwood lumber exports to the U.S. have been the subject of trade disputes and managed trade arrangements for several decades. The current round of countervailing and antidumping duties have been in place since April 2017.
On March 4, 2025, the U.S. administration, under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“IEEPA”), implemented an additive 25% tariff on all goods imported into the U.S. Our wood products were subject to the IEEPA tariffs for a two-day period from March 4, 2025 to March 6, 2025. The legality of the IEEPA tariffs is currently under review by the Supreme Court of the United States as of February 10, 2026.
On September 29, 2025, the U.S. administration issued a proclamation that imposed a tariff of 10% under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 on imported softwood timber and lumber into the U.S., effective October 14, 2025. This tariff is in addition to the existing softwood lumber duties applied to U.S. imports of Canadian lumber. The tariffs implemented under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 are still in effect as of February 10, 2026.
For additional information, refer to the discussion in our 2025 Annual MD&A under “Risks and Uncertainties – Trade Restrictions” for a detailed discussion of the risks and uncertainties associated with the imposition of tariffs.
Liquidity and Capital Allocation
Cash and short-term investments decreased to $202 million at December 31, 2025 from $641 million at December 31, 2024.
Capital expenditures in the fourth quarter were $139 million. Full year capital expenditures were $411 million in 2025 and $487 million in 2024.
We paid $25 million of dividends in the fourth quarter, or $0.32 per share, and declared a $0.32 per share dividend payable in the first quarter of 2026. We paid $101 million of dividends in 2025.
In the fourth quarter of 2025, we repurchased 108,079 shares under our current normal course issuer bid (“2025 NCIB”) for aggregate consideration of $7 million. For the full year, we repurchased 1,639,207 shares under the 2024 and 2025 NCIBs for aggregate consideration of $124 million. As of February 10, 2025, 1,286,185 shares have been repurchased under the 2025 NCIB, leaving 2,581,992 shares available for purchase at our discretion until the expiry of the 2025 NCIB.
Outlook
Markets
Several key trends that have served as positive drivers in recent years are expected to continue to support medium and longer-term demand for new home construction in North America.
The most significant uses for our North American lumber, OSB and engineered wood panel products are residential construction, repair and remodelling and industrial applications. Over the medium term, improved housing affordability from the stabilization of inflation and interest rates, a large cohort of the population approaching the typical home buying stage, and an aging U.S. housing stock are expected to drive new home construction and repair and renovation spending that supports lumber, plywood and OSB demand. Over the longer term, growing market penetration of mass timber in industrial and commercial applications is also expected to become a more significant source of demand growth for wood building products in North America.
The seasonally adjusted annualized rate of U.S. housing starts was 1.25 million units in October 2025, with permits issued for 1.41 million units, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. On a 3-month trailing average basis, there were 1.28 million units started and permits issued for 1.39 million units. While there are near-term uncertainties for new home construction, owing in large part to the level and rate of change of mortgage rates and the resulting impact on housing affordability, unemployment remains relatively low in the U.S. Further, the U.S. central bank has cut its key lending rate a total of 175 bps since September 2024 and Federal funds futures indicate prospects for at least one additional rate cut in 2026. Though these rate trends are directionally positive for the broader housing industry, there appear to be competing forces on future rates as U.S. employment growth has shown recent signs of slowing while there is risk that tariff and other government policies will be inflationary, creating a measure of uncertainty for the near-term path of interest rates. Given these developments, demand for new home construction and our wood building products may continue to be challenged and even decline over the near term should the broader economy and employment slow or the trend in interest and mortgage rates negatively impact consumer sentiment and housing affordability.
In Europe and the U.K., we expect industry demand to improve but remain challenging over the near term. In the longer term, we continue to expect demand for our European products to grow as use of OSB as an alternative to plywood grows. An aging housing stock is also expected to support long-term repair and renovation spending and additional demand for our wood building products. In the current environment, inflation appears to have stabilized and interest rates have continued to ease, which is directionally positive for housing demand. That said, ongoing geopolitical developments, including the potential inflationary effect of U.S. tariffs on the U.K. and Europe, may adversely impact near-term demand for our panel products in the region. Despite these risk factors, we are confident that we will be able to navigate demand markets and capitalize on the long-term growth opportunities ahead.
Operations
The Lumber segment is expected to experience another year of modest demand in 2026, as unknowns persist related to the potential demand impacts from new tariffs imposed by the U.S. administration late in 2025 as well as persistent housing affordability challenges. Based on the current environment, the sawmill closures we announced in 2025, plus offsets from ongoing reliability and capital improvement gains across our lumber mill portfolio and the ramp up of our modernized Henderson mill, we are reiterating each of our SPF and SYP shipments targets to be 2.4 to 2.7 billion board feet in 2026.
In our NA EWP segment, we expect somewhat softer demand for our OSB products in 2026. Similar to the Lumber segment, we acknowledge risks to our demand forecasts given the near-term uncertainty from potential trade tariffs and housing affordability challenges. In light of these factors as well as the planned OSB mill curtailment we announced in late 2025, we are reiterating 2026 North American OSB target shipments of 5.9 to 6.3 billion square feet (3/8-inch basis).
In our Europe EWP segment, we expect 2026 demand for our MDF, particleboard and OSB panel products to be similar or improve slightly from 2025 levels, recognizing there are ongoing macroeconomic uncertainties in the region. As such, we are reiterating 2026 OSB shipments targeted in the range of 1.0 to 1.25 billion square feet (3/8-inch basis).
The global pulp market continues to experience disruption with the economic impact of U.S. tariffs creating considerable demand uncertainty in Chinese markets. However, given recent trends, we anticipate NBSK pricing will be relatively stable to slightly higher over the near to medium term.
As per our previously announced 2026 operational guidance, we expect relatively stable input costs across our supply chain this year, including chemicals and waxes, while contract labour availability and capital equipment lead times are expected to continue to improve.
Based on our current outlook, assuming no deterioration from current market demand conditions and no additional lengthening of lead times for projects underway or planned, expected capital expenditures remain in the range of $300 million to $350 million in 20261.
Refer to the discussion in our 2025 Annual MD&A under “Risks and Uncertainties – Trade Restrictions” under “Risks and Uncertainties” for a detailed …