West Fraser Timber Co. says it earned US$35 million in its first quarter, up from a loss of US$42 million a year earlier.

Earnings per diluted share were 42 cents, compared with a loss of 52 cents during the same quarter last year.

The Vancouver-based company says sales totalled US$1.63 billion, unchanged from a year earlier.

West Fraser president and CEO Sean McLaren says the company is already seeing early financial benefits from the recent closures of some of its higher-cost lumber mills.

Earlier this year, West Fraser announced it was permanently closing a sawmill in Fraser Lake, B.C., closing another in Maxville, Fla., and indefinitely curtailing operations at its Huttig, Ark., sawmill.

More recently, at the beginning of April, West Fraser announced it and Mercer International Inc. were dissolving their joint venture in Cariboo Pulp and Paper, with West Fraser to be the sole owner and operator.

Source: The Canadian Press