Pope Resources Reports First Quarter Income of $451,000

POULSBO, Wash., May 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pope Resources (Nasdaq: POPE) reported net income attributable to unitholders of $451,000, or $0.10 per diluted ownership unit, on revenue of $6.0 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2010.  This compares to a net loss attributable to unitholders of $123,000, or $0.03 per diluted ownership unit, on revenue of $5.0 million for the comparable period in 2009.

Cash provided by operations for the quarter ended March 31, 2010 was $846,000, compared to $435,000 for the first quarter of 2009.  

"Despite continued weak domestic housing starts, we were encouraged by improving market dynamics in both domestic and export log markets," said David L. Nunes, President and CEO. "Domestic sawlog prices improved by 3% to $459 per thousand board feet (MBF), or $13 per MBF, relative to the first quarter of 2009 and by 14%, or $58 per MBF, relative to the fourth quarter of 2009.  This improvement is a function of inventory restocking throughout the lumber distribution channel as well as increasing demand from Chinese and Korean log buyers.  We responded to these improved market conditions by moving more of our planned harvest volume into the first quarter.  Given the improvement in log markets, we intend to continue harvesting more than planned, as we did in the first quarter to take advantage of higher prices, and will do so the rest of the year if market conditions stay constant or improve."

Fee Timber operating income in the first quarter increased 67%, from $1.4 million in 2009 to $2.3 million in 2010, driven by an increase in harvest volume from 9 million board feet (MMBF) in 2009 to 12 MMBF in 2010, offset in part by an 8% decline in average realized log price, which fell from $477 per MBF in 2009 to $441 per MBF in 2010.  The decline in average log price realization from the first quarter of 2009 reflects a shift in the export mix, with more volume flowing to the lower valued Chinese and Korean markets, as well as an increase in harvest of lower valued whitewood logs.  

Our Timberland Management & Consulting segment posted an operating loss of $241,000 for the first quarter of 2010, a decline from the operating loss of $104,000 for the corresponding quarter in 2009 primarily due to the termination of the Cascade Timberlands contract in mid-2009.  This segment includes revenue from the management of timberland owned by the two private equity timber funds managed by Olympic Resource Management.  However, fees earned from these management activities during the first quarter of 2010 and 2009 of $253,000 and $204,000, respectively, were eliminated with a corresponding reduction to Fee Timber operating expenses as a result of the consolidation of these funds into the Partnerships' financial statements.  

The operating loss of $526,000 posted by our Real Estate segment for the first quarter of 2010 reflects a slight decline from the operating loss of $459,000 for 2009's first quarter due primarily to a decline in commercial lease revenue for the millsite at Port Gamble.  The millsite had been leased to the Washington State Department of Transportation in support of a long-term project to replace a portion of the Hood Canal Bridge.  The final payment on this lease was received in the third quarter of 2009.

First quarter 2010 General & Administrative expenses increased 11% to $941,000, compared to $844,000 in the prior year, driven by higher professional service fees in the first quarter of 2010 versus 2009.  

The financial schedules attached to this earnings release provide detail on individual segment results and operating statistics.

About Pope Resources

Pope Resources, a publicly traded limited partnership and its subsidiaries Olympic Resource Management and Olympic Property Group, own or manage 152,000 acres of timberland and development property in Washington and Oregon.  We also manage, co-invest in, and consolidate two timberland investment funds that we manage for a fee. In addition, we offer our forestry consulting and timberland investment management services to third-party owners and managers of timberland in Washington, Oregon, and California. The company and its predecessor companies have owned and managed timberlands and development properties for more than 150 years. Additional information on the company can be found at www.poperesources.com.  The contents of our website are not incorporated into this release or into our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

This press release contains a number of projections and statements about our expected financial condition, operating results, business plans and objectives. These statements reflect management's estimates based on current goals and its expectations about future developments. Because these statements describe our goals, objectives, and anticipated performance, they are inherently uncertain, and some or all of these statements may not come to pass. Accordingly, they should not be interpreted as promises of future management actions or financial performance. Our future actions and actual performance will vary from current expectations and under various circumstances the results of these variations may be material and adverse. Some of the factors that may cause actual operating results and financial condition to fall short of expectations include conditions in the housing construction and wood-products markets that affect demand for our products; factors that affect our ability to anticipate and respond adequately to fluctuations in the market prices for our products; environmental and land use regulations that limit our ability to harvest timber and develop property, including changes in those regulations; conditions affecting credit markets as they affect the availability of capital and costs of borrowing; labor, equipment and transportation costs that affect our net income; the impacts of natural disasters on our timberlands and on surrounding areas; and our ability to discover and to accurately estimate liabilities associated with our properties. Other factors are set forth in that part of our Annual Report on Form 10-K entitled "Risk Factors." Other issues that may have an adverse and material impact on our business, operating results, and financial condition include those risks and uncertainties discussed in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements in this release are made only as of the date shown above, and we cannot undertake to update these statements.

SOURCE Pope Resources