MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF
FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
UFP Industries, Inc. is a holding company with subsidiaries throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia that design, manufacture, and supply products made from wood, wood and non-wood composites, and other materials to three segments: retail, packaging, and construction. Our business segments are functionally interdependent and are supported by common corporate services, such as accounting and finance, information technology, human resources, marketing, legal and compliance, and others. We regularly invest in automation and create best practices to improve the efficiency of our manufacturing facilities across each of the segments. The results and improvements from these investments are shared among the segments. This exchange of improvements and ideas has also prompted better and faster innovation for new products, processes, and product improvements. While the majority of our facilities serve only one business segment, a variety of our larger facilities serve two or more segments.
We believe that our operating structure allows us to better evaluate market conditions and opportunities and more effectively allocate capital and resources to the appropriate segments and business units. Also, we believe that the diversification and manner in which we operate our business provides an inherent hedge against the inevitable business cycles that our markets experience and over which we have little control. Accordingly, our goal is to provide more stable earnings and cash flows to our shareholders. Our diversification and operating practices also mitigate the impact of more volatile lumber market conditions experienced by traditional lumber companies. We are headquartered in Grand Rapids, Mich. For more information about UFP Industries, Inc., or its affiliated operations, go to www.ufpi.com.
This report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act, as amended, that are based on management’s beliefs, assumptions, current expectations, estimates and projections about the markets we serve, the economy and the Company itself. Words like “anticipates,” “believes,” “confident,” “estimates,” “expects,” “forecasts,” “likely,” “plans,” “projects,” “should,” variations of such words, and similar expressions identify such forward-looking statements. These statements do not guarantee future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict with regard to timing, extent, likelihood and degree of occurrence. We do not undertake to update forward-looking statements to reflect facts, circumstances, events, or assumptions that occur after the date the forward-looking statements are made. Actual results could differ materially from those included in such forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainty. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements are the following: fluctuations in currency and inflation; fluctuations in the price of lumber; adverse economic conditions in the markets we serve; concentration of sales to customers; vertical integration strategies; excess capacity or supply chain challenges; our ability to make successful business acquisitions; government regulations, particularly involving environmental and safety regulations; adverse or unusual weather conditions; inbound and outbound transportation costs; alternatives to replace treated wood products; Cybersecurity breaches; tariffs on import and export sales; and potential pandemics. Certain of these risk factors as well as other risk factors and additional information are included in our reports on Form 10-K and 10-Q on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We are pleased to present this overview of the first quarter of 2023.
OVERVIEW
Our results for the first quarter of 2023 include the following highlights:
| ● | Our net sales decreased 27% compared to the first quarter of 2022, which was comprised of a 20% decrease in selling prices and an 8% decrease in organic unit sales, offset by a 1% increase in unit sales due to acquisitions completed since March of last year. The overall decrease in our selling prices is primarily due to lower lumber prices and more competitive pricing in certain business units. Organic unit declines include 2% in our retail segment, 4% in our packaging segment, 16% in our construction segment, and 20% in our international segment. |