BRAZIL - Dexco, Brazil's largest wooden panel manufacturer, reported 4Q-2023 sales of BRL 1,948.7 million, marking a slight decline of 1.6% compared to the 4Q-2022, which stood at BRL 1,980.4 million.

The company's total sales for the year amounted to BRL 7,383.4 million, reflecting a  decrease of 13.0% from the previous year's figure of BRL 8,486.7 million.

In the 4Q-2023, Dexco achieved an Adjusted and Recurring EBITDA of BRL 404.5 million, indicating a notable increase of 10.5% compared to the same period in 2022, which recorded BRL 366.1 million. The corresponding margin for this quarter stood at 20.8%.

Despite forestry transactions during the year and steady growth in wooden panel sales during the latter half of 2023, Dexco faced challenges due to adverse market conditions and the impacts of restructuring activities in the Finishings Division. Consequently, the company's Adjusted and Recurring EBITDA for the full year of 2023 totaled BRL 1,393.2 million, representing a decline of 19.5% from 2022, with a margin of 18.9%, marking a decrease of 1.5 percentage points compared to the previous year.

The Recurring Net Income (profit) for the 4Q-2023 amounted to BRL 77.5 million, reflecting a significant drop of 62.6% compared to the same period in 2022. For the entire year of 2023, Recurring Net Income (profit) was 51.9% lower than that of 2022, ending at BRL 370.9 million.

Despite the challenges, the Wood Division experienced growth of 5.1% in the 4Q-2023 compared to the same period in the previous year. Wooden panel volumes totaled 722.4 thousand m3 for the quarter, with 15.2% allocated to operations in Colombia and foreign markets. However, for the full year, the wooden panel volume decreased by 6.0%, totaling 2.7 million m3, compared to 2022.