Content about Pro Dealer news

May 17, 2012
Builders FirstSource to open Tennessee location

Dallas-based pro dealer Builders FirstSource has announced a new location in Clarksville, Tenn., approximately 40 miles northwest of Nashville. The facility is situated on five acres and includes a 25,000-sq.-ft. warehouse. It will offer lumber, engineered I-joist systems, roof and floor trusses, windows, doors, millwork and various other building products and materials. The scheduled opening date is in early June.

CEO Floyd Sherman said the company is looking forward to expanding its footprint in northern Tennessee and southern Kentucky.

May 16, 2012
Lafarge names new CEO for U.S. operations

Global building materials supplier Lafarge has appointed John Stull as president and CEO, United States, putting him in charge of all aggregate, cement and concrete operations in the United States.

The appointment now brings these Lafarge business lines in the United States together under a single leader, which the company said will focus its delivery on sustainable solutions to the construction industry.

May 14, 2012
Delaware court sidelines takeover bid for Vulcan Materials

A hostile takeover battle between the nation’s two largest suppliers of construction aggregates -- one of the chief ingredients of concrete -- was put on a four-month hiatus by a Delaware court on May 14. Although the stay is only temporary, pending the outcome of an appeal, Martin Marietta must put a halt to its efforts to combine the two companies, which include a stock-exchange offer and an effort to elect its own directors to Vulcan’s board.

May 10, 2012
Beacon Roofing swings to profit

Beacon Roofing Supply, the Peabody, Mass., distributor of roofing and other housing exterior materials, posted net sales of $395.1 million for its second fiscal quarter of 2012, a 33.4% increase over sales of $296.3 million in the same quarter in 2011. Existing market (organic) sales, which exclude branches acquired after the beginning of last year's second quarter, increased 28.2%.

May 10, 2012
NCI Building Systems to acquire insulated panel supplier

NCI Building Systems has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase Metl-Span, a maker of insulated panels, from a subsidiary of BlueScope Steel North America Corp. The deal is valued at $145 million in cash.

May 9, 2012
Deering Lumber acquires two units

Deering Lumber, the Biddeford, Maine-based pro dealer, has purchased two stores from New England Building Materials, according to a report in Wired Weekly, the newsletter of the Northeastern Retail Lumber Association (NRLA). Deering now operates four retail locations.  

May 8, 2012
Losses narrow at LP

Louisiana-Pacific Corp., one of the industry’s leading suppliers of oriented strand board and other building materials, announced net sales of $361.5 million for its first fiscal quarter of 2012, compared with $331.7 million during the same quarter a year ago. 

May 8, 2012
Retailers protest wood import restrictions

A representative of the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) testified before a U.S. Congress subcommittee on May 8 about concerns surrounding compliance challenges that have emerged from the 2008 Lacey Act, especially concerning wood imports.

May 7, 2012
Sales rise, losses narrow at BFS

Builders FirstSource, the Dallas-based pro dealer, posted net sales of $219.4 million for its first fiscal quarter of 2012, a 34.7% hike over sales of $162.8 million in the same quarter of 2011. The increase was primarily due to increased sales volume as commodity prices for lumber and lumber sheet goods in the quarter were, on average, comparable to the same period a year ago, the company said.

May 4, 2012
Luxor reports strong sales, new EWP line

Luxor Industrial Corp., a Canadian engineered wood products manufacturer, is working on developing a heavy timber line for specialty wood products, the company said in its financial filings. The Vancouver B.C.-based firm has completed initial engineering and is meeting with interested North American customers. Luxor currently focuses on sales in the industrial and commercial markets for wood products, a market it focused on in 2008 after the residential downturn.

May 4, 2012
Osmose sold; management team remains

Buffalo, N.Y.-based Osmose Holdings, a manufacturer of wood preservation technology, will be acquired by investment funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, of Los Angeles. 

Osmose’s existing management team will remain in place, including James Spengler, president and CEO of Osmose.

May 3, 2012
BlueLinx posts increase in Q1 revenue

Atlanta-based BlueLinx Holdings posted a net loss of $11.0 million for the first quarter ended March 31, compared with a net loss of $12.3 million in the first quarter of 2011.

The building products distributor reported first-quarter revenue of $453.7 million, up 16.2% from $390.6 million in the same period a year ago. The increase in revenue is attributable to increased unit volumes and increased underlying product prices for both product categories. 

May 3, 2012
Boise boosts sales in Q1

Boise Cascade Holdings has announced sales of $587 million for its first fiscal quarter of 2012, a 21% increase over the same quarter a year ago. The wood products company reported first-quarter net income of $1.66 million, compared with a $19.0 million loss during the first quarter of 2011. 

As of March 31, Boise Cascade had total available liquidity of $371.9 million, with $164.4 million in cash and committed bank line availability of $207.5 million.

May 3, 2012
Plum Creek reports Q1 earning decline

Plum Creek Timber Co. posted first-quarter earnings of $29 million, down 23.6% from $38 million in the first quarter of 2011. Revenues in the first quarter totaled $337 million, up 22.5% from $275 million in the year-ago period

Earnings declined due to lower reported income from the real estate segment, although revenues and cash generated by the segment increased. 

May 2, 2012
Standard Pacific reports strong Q1

Irvine, Calif.-based Standard Pacific Corp. reported first-quarter net income of $8.5 million, compared with a net loss of $14.8 million in the first quarter of 2011. 

Home sale revenues for the first quarter ended March 31 increased 53% to $220.3 million from $143.7 million in year-ago period. This was driven by a 46% increase in new home deliveries (excluding joint ventures) to 642 homes and a 5% increase in the company's consolidated average home price to $343,000. 

May 1, 2012
Beacon Roofing Supply promotes executive

Beacon Roofing Supply, the Peabody, Mass-based supplier of roofing and other exterior building products, has promoted Kent Gardner to executive VP west division. The company's west division is currently comprised of three regions: Shelter Distribution-Midwest, Shelter Distribution-Southwest and Pacific Supply.

Gardner joined Beacon in 2005 and was promoted to VP in March 2007 and to senior VP in January 2011. Prior to that, he served in the U.S. Army.

May 1, 2012
Little change in Remodeling Market Index

The National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) Remodeling Market Index (RMI) decreased one point to 47 from the upwardly revised 48 in the previous quarter.

In the first quarter, the RMI component measuring current market conditions dropped one point to 49, while the component measuring future indicators of remodeling business fell two points to 44.

May 1, 2012
Pulte surveys renters on homeownership

A majority of renters who have been considering a home purchase intend to do so within the next two years, according to a survey conducted by home builder PulteGroup.

Among the top reasons renters indicated they have increased their interest in buying a home include:

• They like being able to call themselves homeowners (49%); • They view it as a good financial investment (44%); and • They need more space for their family/kids (36%).

May 1, 2012
PulteGroup Q1 loss narrows

Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based PulteGroup reported a net loss of $12 million for the first quarter ended March 31, compared with a net loss of $40 million in the prior-year quarter. Reported net loss includes $6 million of land-related charges, which were offset by $6 million of land-sale gains. 

April 27, 2012
Builders FirstSource sees “momentum”

Momentum appears strong, but profits remain elusive for Builders FirstSource, the industry’s sole remaining publicly traded chain of lumberyards.

On the positive side of the ledge, the company posted its third straight quarter of sales increases of greater than 20%. But the company’s first-quarter loss was $19.1 million, which narrowed slightly from a loss of $21.1 million in the first quarter of 2011.

April 26, 2012
GAF sponsors Made-in-America Home project

Last fall, Montana builder Anders Lewendal began work on “The All-American Home,” gaining national recognition in the media and building industry. An economist-turned-builder, Lewendal estimated that if every builder used just 5% more American-made products, they would create more than 200,000 jobs -- a number that ABC News reported as being confirmed by The Boston Consulting Group.

April 26, 2012
Yard worker pleads guilty to lumber scam

A former employee of Stimson Lumber Co. in Plummer, Idaho, has admitted to pocketing more than $500,000 for selling lumber to an unauthorized third party, while he was responsible for loading and unloading trucks for his employer, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho.

April 25, 2012
Case-Shiller index hits new lows

The S&P/Case-Shiller Index, a leading indicator of U.S. housing prices, showed annual declines of 3.6% and 3.5% for the 10- and 20-city composites, respectively, for February 2012. This is a new low for February, which has not seen such levels since 2002. But the decline was less steep than in previous months, when it recorded a 3.9% drop in January and a 4.1% drop in December in year-over-year figures. 

April 25, 2012
Milestone for Madison Township Lumber

New Jersey pro dealer Madison Township Lumber & Supply Co. passed the half-century mark this year. 

Serving the entire Garen State, the single-unit location in Matawan, N.J., was founded in 1962 by Anthony J. Martorana Sr., who remains as CEO of the family business. His wife, Louise Ann, is CFO and son Anthony Jr. serves as VP sales and operations.

The dealer distributes BlueLinx I Joist and Billet Beams, hardware, lumber, millwork, Silver Line Windows and Benjamin Moore Paint. 

April 25, 2012
Mill Creek to expand in Wichita

Tulsa, Okla.-based Mill Creek has plans to open a showroom, door shop and truss manufacturing plant in northern Wichita, Kan., according to an article in the Wichita Eagle.

Jeff Dunn, Mill Creek’s president, told the newspaper he’s “cautiously optimistic” about the city and wants to position the company for the inevitable upturn in new-home building.

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