This year will be an endurance contest, but companies that adapt and survive will prosper as the economy rebounds, according to Rick Frost, Louisiana-Pacific’s Corporation’s ceo.
Mr Frost made the comments during a March 2 conference call to discuss the Nashville, Tennessee-based company’s fourth quarter and full-year 2008 results.
He said expectations for total US housing starts in 2009 had been adjusted down to 600,000, around one-third of the underlying demand. This will be the lowest demand most people have ever seen, and Mr Frost said business would have to adapt to a lower level of demand, or it would fail.
LP reported an overall fourth quarter net loss of US$339.4m, compared with a net loss of US$49.1m in the same quarter of 2007, with OSB sales down 42% from $186m in Q4, 2007, to US$109m.
