5/7/2026

speaker
Operator
Conference Operator

Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us and welcome to Q1 2026 Rainier Inc. Earnings Conference Call. After today's prepared remarks, we will host a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star one again. I will now hand the conference over to Colin Mings, Vice President of Capital Markets and Strategic Planning. Colin, please go ahead.

speaker
Colin Mings
Vice President of Capital Markets and Strategic Planning

Thank you and good morning. Welcome to Ray Anear's Investor Teleconference, covering first quarter earnings. Our earnings statements and financial supplement were released yesterday afternoon and are available on our website at rayanear.com. I would like to remind you that in these presentations, we include forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of federal securities laws. Our earnings release and forms 10-K and 10-Q, followed by the SEC, list some of the factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements we may make. They're also referenced on page two of our financial supplement. Throughout these presentations, we will also discuss non-GAAP financial measures, which are defined and reconciled to the nearest GAAP measures in our earnings release and supplemental materials. With that, let's start our teleconference with opening comments from Mark McHugh, our president and CEO. Mark? Thanks, Colin.

speaker
Mark McHugh
President and CEO

Good morning, everyone. Before turning to our first quarter results, I'd like to provide a brief update on the merger of equals with Potlatch Deltic. Since closing the transaction ahead of schedule in late January, our team has hit the ground running on integration efforts. I'm extremely proud of the collaboration and dedication that our people have shown as we work to align our cultures and business processes across the combined organization. The momentum we built in such a short time gives me great confidence in the value this combination will deliver for our shareholders and other stakeholders. Our leadership team has also made significant progress in optimizing our organizational structure and implementing changes that will drive meaningful overhead cost savings and operational efficiencies over time. We continue to expect $40 million of annual run rate synergies within 24 months of closing, with at least half of that achieved by the end of the first year. Since closing the merger, we've made significant progress toward these objectives, and we remain on track to achieve our synergies targets. Also, as it relates to the merger, we announced in late March that after completing a thorough review of alternatives, we would maintain the Rainier name, while also introducing a refreshed corporate logo that reflects the beginning of a new era as a combined company. During this review, we considered the rich history and established market presence of both the Rainier and Potlatch Delta corporate brands among customers, investors, and other stakeholders. We ultimately concluded that retaining the Rainier name would best position us to leverage our strong brand equity among stakeholders while also mitigating the cost, complexity, and potential risk of confusion in adopting an entirely new corporate identity. Now let's move to our first quarter results. I'll start with a review of our overall financial results, as well as our segment level performance, after which Wayne will review key liquidity and balance sheet metrics, as well as our outlook for the balance of the year. Please note that our first quarter results captured two months of post-merger contribution from the legacy potlatch Deltic operations following the January 30th closing of the merger. In addition, as a result of the merger, Our portable business segments have been updated to include a new wood product segment, which reflects Potlatch Delta's legacy lumber and plywood operations. For the first quarter, Rainier reported a gap loss of $12 million, or 5 cents per share. Adjusting for pro forma items, all of which were related to the merger, net income was $17 million, or 7 cents per share. Adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter was $94 million, which was well above the $27 million reported in the prior year period, primarily due to the contribution from the Potlatch-Deltic operations, along with strong operational performance across our segments. Moving on to our segment results, let's start on page 8 with our southern timber segment. Adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter of $46 million was 68% above the prior year quarter, as increased harvest volumes more than offset lower net stumpage realizations. Total harvest volumes increased 76% versus the prior year quarter, primarily due to the addition of roughly 1 million tons of volume from the potlatch deltic timberlands. As it relates to pricing in the southern timber segment, please note that we have revised our price reporting to reflect delivered log prices rather than net sumpage realizations to reflect the prevalent mode of sale in our southern timber operations following the merger. Also, as we discussed last quarter, our reported pricing in the south is lower as compared to the prior year standalone realizations for Rainier, largely due to the geographic mix shift associated with the merger. In grade log markets, demand was steady as lumber prices rose throughout the first quarter following capacity curtailments last year. As we move forward, we are optimistic that some local markets will see improved demand as sawmills potentially ratchet up production in response to a more favorable lumber pricing environment. In pulpwood markets, conditions remained challenging during the quarter as weaker demand following mill closures and maintenance downtime was compounded by historically dry weather conditions across the U.S. South. which allowed for the harvesting of typically inaccessible sites. As anticipated, this combination of increased supply and weaker demand resulted in continued pricing pressure to start the year. On a positive note, end product pricing for many of our pulp and packaging mill customers has improved following recent supply rationalization, which should contribute to some stabilization of demand going forward. I also want to touch briefly on the recent forest fires in the US South. First and foremost, our thoughts go out to the individuals and communities affected by these tragic events. Over the past couple of weeks, Rainier has been working alongside neighboring landowners and state and federal agencies to help contain the fires. To date, we have sustained property damage on roughly 10,000 acres, primarily in Georgia. Our team is actively assessing the impact and preparing to commence remediation and salvage operations on the affected tracks as conditions allow. Based on the fire activity to date and our preliminary assessment, we do not currently expect the fires to have a significant financial or operational impact to our business. Moving on to our Northwest timber segment on page nine. First quarter of Jesse Bedop of $9 million was 45% above the prior year quarter. Harvest volumes increased 38% in the first quarter as compared to the prior year period, primarily due to the contribution of 116,000 tons of incremental harvest volume from Potlatch-Deltax, Idaho Timberlands. Notably, harvest activity in Idaho was limited during the first quarter due to extended spring breakup conditions following a relatively mild winter. On a positive note, lumber pricing increased significantly throughout the first quarter in response to supply curtailments, which translated to an improved overall supply-demand balance. Moving forward, we expect some producers in the region to ramp up production in response to higher lumber prices, which should translate to positive log price momentum as well. Turning to wood products on page 10, this segment generated $7 million of adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter, modestly above our expectations for the two-month post-merger period. During this period, our average lumber price realization was $437 per MBF, and shipments totaled 199 million board feet. On a full quarter basis, including the pre-merger period, our average pricing was $427 per MBF, and shipments totaled 288 million board feet. Notably, our average lumber price realization rebounded by roughly 11% from an average of $384 per MBF in the fourth quarter for legacy potlatch Deltic. The improvement in the lumber market to start the year reflected the impact of reduced supply due to milk curtailments and higher tariffs on Canadian imports, as well as improved demand heading into the spring building season. This positive trajectory continued into mid-April. However, pricing in recent weeks across some products has moderated amid more balanced supply-demand dynamics. Moving to our real estate segment on page 11. In the first quarter, real estate revenue totaled $60 million on approximately 7,700 acres sold at an average price of $7,300 per acre. Sales increased significantly from the prior year quarter due to a higher number of acres sold, partially offset by a slightly lower average price per acre due to the sales mix. Real estate segment adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter was $46 million, up significantly from $2 million in the prior year period. Within improved development, sales totaled $7 million. Activity at our Wildlight and Heartwood development projects remains on a favorable trajectory as we continue to benefit from the investments we've made over the past several years in entitlements, infrastructure, and market development. Meanwhile, the Chenal Valley development project in Little Rock, Arkansas, which we added through the Potlatch-Deltic merger, further diversifies our platform and should remain a steady contributor to cash flow moving forward. Moving to the rural category, first quarter sales totaled $49 million, consisting of roughly 7,650 acres sold at an average price of nearly $6,500 per acre. The most notable transaction was a 2,200-acre sale to a solar developer, which exercised an option to purchase the property for nearly $23 million, or roughly $10,000 per acre. This sale underscores the continued interest we are seeing from solar developers across our southern land portfolios. Our pipeline of land under option for lease or sale to solar developers currently stands at approximately 80,000 acres. More broadly, overall sentiment in the rural land market also remains positive as we approach midyear. I'll now turn the call over to Wayne to cover key liquidity and balance sheet metrics, as well as our outlook for the balance of the year.

speaker
Wayne
Chief Financial Officer

Thanks, Mark. Moving to our capital resources and liquidity, our cash available for distribution, or CAD, was $90 million in the first quarter versus $20 million in the prior year period. The significant increase in CAD was primarily driven by the contribution from the Potlatch Delta businesses, coupled with significantly improved real estate results. A reconciliation of CAD to cash provided by operating activities and other gap measures is provided on page 7 of the financial supplement. During the first quarter, subsequent to the closing of the merger, we repurchased approximately 1.5 million shares at an average price of $20.98 per share, or $31 million in total. As of the end of the first quarter, we had roughly $198 million remaining on our current share repurchase authorization. We continue to believe that our stock price is trading at a significant discount to net asset value. In addition, the dividend yield is around 5% at the current stock price. As such, we continue to view share buybacks as a compelling use of capital and one of the most attractive ways to create value for our shareholders in the near term. Turning to our balance sheet, we remain well positioned following the closing of the merger with a conservative leverage profile and a significant capital allocation flexibility. We finished the first quarter with $682 million of cash and roughly $2.1 billion of debt. Our net debt to enterprise value based on our closing stock price at the end of the quarter was 18%. During the quarter, we repaid $28 million of debt that matured in February. After quarter end, we also used cash on hand to repay a $200 million term loan at maturity, which we viewed as a more favorable capital allocation option than refinancing in the current higher interest rate environment. Moving to our outlook, consistent with the initial 2026 financial guidance we provided in February, Full-year metrics reflect a pro-rata contribution from the potlatch Deltic operations starting on January 31st. With respect to our individual segments, starting with our southern timber segment, we expect to achieve full-year harvest volumes of 12.1 to 12.6 million tons with anticipated harvest volumes of 2.9 to 3.1 million tons in the second quarter. We expect regional saw timber and pulpwood prices to remain relatively stable for the second quarter compared to the first quarter. However, full year and quarter average pine prices for the combined company's southern timber segment are expected to be lower than the standalone prices for Rainier in the prior year based on the geographic mix of the combined company. In our northwest timber segment, we expect to achieve full-year harvest volumes of 2 to 2.3 million tons, with anticipated harvest volumes of approximately 500,000 tons in the second quarter. We expect overall saw timber prices to be higher in the second quarter compared to the first quarter, primarily due to the addition of Potlatch Deltax Idaho Timberlands. We also continue to expect that full-year 2026 average saw log pricing for the combined company's Northwest timber segment will be higher than the standalone pricing for Rainier in the prior year. However, as we previously highlighted, our pricing in the Northwest following the merger will be more sensitive to fluctuations in lumber pricing as a significant portion of our saw log sales in Idaho are indexed to lumber prices. In our wood product segment, we continue to expect lumber shipments to total approximately 1.1 billion board feet for the 11 months of contribution in 2026. We further expect lumber shipments in the second quarter of approximately 310 to 320 million board feet. While we were encouraged by the positive trajectory in lumber prices through mid-April, pricing in recent weeks has moderated amid more balanced supply-demand dynamics. Our average lumber price thus far in the second quarter is $505 per thousand board feet. This is based on shipments of approximately 125 million board feet of lumber. Based on our quarter-to-date price realizations and current lumber pricing, we expect the adjusted EBITDA contribution from the wood product segment to be higher in the second quarter compared to the first quarter results. In our real estate segment, we are pleased by the continued momentum to start 2026 and maintain a strong pipeline of rural and improved development land sale opportunities for the balance of the year. Based on our current transaction pipeline and sales closed quarter to date, we expect an adjusted EBITDA contribution in the second quarter of $25 to $35 million. For the full year, we continue to expect adjusted EBITDA contribution from our real estate segment of $180 to $200 million. I'll now turn the call back to Mark for closing comments.

speaker
Mark McHugh
President and CEO

Thanks, Wayne. In sum, it was an exceptionally busy first quarter. The team's hard work enabled us to close the merger ahead of schedule, advance several important integration initiatives, and deliver solid financial results, even in the face of continued market headwinds and a challenging macroeconomic backdrop. We remain focused on controlling the controllables, optimizing our financial performance, and capitalizing on future growth opportunities. On the real estate front, I continue to be impressed by our team's ability to unlock value across our land base. Within our rural HBU business, we see continued healthy demand for properties at significant premiums to Timberland value supported by broad-based interest from a variety of buyers. On the development front, we continue to see a long runway for value creation across all three of our development projects. As it relates to our land-based solutions business, while some opportunities have been slower to materialize than we anticipated a few years ago, long-term demand for land-based solutions continues to build, and our portfolio is uniquely well positioned to capitalize on these trends. On that note, we are pleased to close a solar land sale during the first quarter at a significant premium to Timberland value. Given the substantial capital flowing into AI and data center infrastructure, we expect solar land sales and leases to become an increasingly meaningful contributor to cash flow in the years ahead. We also remain optimistic about the long-term potential of carbon capture and storage, bioenergy, and carbon offset demand, and we are continuing to develop a diverse pipeline of opportunities in these areas. Overall, while macroeconomic conditions remain fluid, I believe the long-term fundamentals of our industry remain promising due to the structural deficit in U.S. housing, the positive trajectory of our real estate business, and the broad optionality embedded within our land base. Moreover, I'm confident that our nimble and opportunistic approach to capital allocation will allow us to build long-term value per share throughout the economic cycle. Before turning it back to the operator, I want to express my appreciation to our employees for their dedication and perseverance during what has been and will continue to be a transformative period for our newly combined organization. I'm excited about this next chapter and the opportunities ahead. Through this merger, we have created a company with significant scale, a well-diversified portfolio, a strong balance sheet, an exceptionally talented team, and a shared commitment to shareholder value creation. That concludes our prepared remarks, and I'll now turn the call back to the operator for questions.

speaker
Operator
Conference Operator

We will now begin the question and answer session. Your line will remain open for follow-ups. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star one again. We ask that you pick up your handset when asking a question to allow for optimum sound quality. If you are muted locally, please remember to unmute your device. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Your first question comes from the line of Matthew McKellar with RBC Capital Markets. Matthew, your line is open. Please go ahead.

speaker
Matthew McKellar
Analyst, RBC Capital Markets

Good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. First, there was that nice sale to a solar developer in the quarter. You also made a comment about solar-related leases and sales in the years ahead. Are you seeing any more interest, I guess, from developers in purchasing parcels rather than leasing? And how do you think about those two options from Rainier's perspective? Thanks.

speaker
Mark McHugh
President and CEO

Yeah, thanks, Matthew. That's a great question. I'd say that it's been pretty balanced between options to purchase and options to lease over the years. I will say that we made a concerted effort to really change over our philosophy to create a recurring revenue stream from that business. And so I'd say some of the earlier options we entered into were We're probably more focused on the purchase side. You know, some of the more recent options are probably more focused on the lease. And so there is some balance in there. I'd say it's probably heavier to lease in terms of that current option portfolio. But we have seen interest on both sides. And to some extent, it's specific to the developer. You know, there are certain developers that really want to own the underlying land. There are other developers that prefer to not have that capital outlay and have a long term lease. And so, you know, again, we played on both sides of that.

speaker
Matthew McKellar
Analyst, RBC Capital Markets

Great. Thanks for the color. And next, could you maybe just talk a bit more about what you're seeing in log markets in the Pacific Northwest across the legacy of your portfolio, mostly in Washington in particular? I think you noted a supply response could play out with how lumber prices have trended. Are you seeing that so far, maybe beyond a typical seasonal uptick, or is that an assumption kind of looking forward based on what lumber prices have done? And I guess if it's something you are observing, how significant has that pickup been so far? Thanks.

speaker
Mark McHugh
President and CEO

In the Northwest, timber markets have been relatively balanced from a supply-demand perspective, but they also do tend to be more sensitive to lumber prices. And we've seen some improvement here in lumber prices recently. But the overall market, I'd say, is still softer, more tenuous than it was a few years ago. But certainly with this recent trajectory in lumber prices, that gives us some optimism about what the trajectory in log prices in that region will look like.

speaker
Matthew McKellar
Analyst, RBC Capital Markets

Great. Thanks for the help. I'll turn it back.

speaker
Operator
Conference Operator

Your next question comes from a line of Landry Moore with Citi. Landry, your line is open. Please go ahead.

speaker
Anthony Pitneri
Analyst, Citi

Hey, this is Anthony Pitneri, actually. Mark, I was wondering if you could talk about log and haul costs and specifically, you know, how the combined company uses diesel across the two timber segments and wood products. Is this just a pass-through for you? Are you implementing surcharges or absorbing them in parts of the business? I think diesel is up 60% year-over-year, so I'm just wondering if you could give us a tour of how that impacts the business and how you deal with that.

speaker
Wayne
Chief Financial Officer

Yeah, Anthony, this is Wayne. I'll take that. Certainly, you're right. I mean, higher oil prices certainly impacts the industry as a whole, and we're not immune from that. But in our Timberland business, that does show up more in log and haul and diesel prices. I think for us, we we tend to see that more now in prior Northern region than in the South. I think the South, it's not as drastic. Um, we do where we can, um, you know, pass that on to the customer. Uh, sometimes, you know, we're very proactive in that, but, um, you know, that can, uh, take some time to, to work through a log and haul contracts. So, um, Now, on the wood product side, we'll also see some inflationary cost pressures there as well. On operating supplies, there can be impacts to transportation costs and log procurement. But we don't think that will be significant as far as transportation for wood. wood products in lumber, you know, that generally is a pass through to customers. So any cost increases there, you know, they absorb that.

speaker
Anthony Pitneri
Analyst, Citi

Okay. That's very helpful. And then I'm just curious, you know, Mark, in your comments at the end, I think you mentioned data centers and obviously there's a lot more discussion around, you know, land use for data centers. You obviously have a lot of land. I'm just wondering, is this, You know, what does data centers mean to Rainier? Is this an incremental opportunity? Has this been an opportunity all along? Or just maybe it was just a throwaway comment, but I'm just curious how you think about the impact to the combined company.

speaker
Mark McHugh
President and CEO

Yeah, we've definitely seen interest in land purchases from data center developers and we continue to focus on trying to build out some of those opportunities. I wouldn't say that we expect it to be a huge use of land. I mean, just again, relative to a solar farm, for example, a data center is just not generally going to require quite as much land, but they would generally come at higher price points as well. And so it's definitely an opportunity that we think is pretty promising, but I'd characterize it more as incremental, more so than transformatively.

speaker
Anthony Pitneri
Analyst, Citi

Okay. Is it possible to kind of put any finer point on, like, the number of engagements or projects, you know, 5, 10, 20? I don't know if you're able to kind of quantify in any way, like...

speaker
Mark McHugh
President and CEO

Yeah, I'd say that that's hard to quantify. I will say that we, you know, we have identified a handful of parcels that we think have some appeal or could have some appeal for data center development, and we've actively marketed those. You know, we've seen some interest, but I think it's a little early to say, you know, quantify in terms of number of projects or number of acres underlying those projects. Okay, that's helpful.

speaker
Anthony Pitneri
Analyst, Citi

I'll turn it over.

speaker
Operator
Conference Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Mike Roxland with Truist Securities. Mike, your line is open. Please go ahead.

speaker
Mike Roxland
Analyst, Truist Securities

Yeah, thank you, Mark, Wayne, Colin, for taking my questions. Mark, just wanted to follow up on that solar developer sale, you know, $10,000 per acre. Can you provide a little more color on that? Is there something unique about that parcel that I committed such a premium, or is it fair to say that that is the going rate for those types of sales?

speaker
Mark McHugh
President and CEO

I'd say that's more the going rate for those types of sales. We've had a number of these over the last several years, and it's generally been around that price point. I'd say those sales have tended to occur in the $8,000 to $15,000 per acre range, and the lease rates that we've seen are probably in the $700 to $1,200 per acre range. So, again, we've been focused on opportunities on both the sales side as well as the lease side. And that's, you know, kind of a general range of the economics that we've seen.

speaker
Mike Roxland
Analyst, Truist Securities

How many of these opportunities do you think could occur maybe this year and into 2027? How many more do you have lined up or off-site to in the near term?

speaker
Mark McHugh
President and CEO

Yeah, it's hard to say because, again, we have an option portfolio of 80,000 acres. We do expect solar land leases and sales to become increasingly significant within our cash flows in the years ahead. Right now, I'd say... Developers are primarily focused on optimizing their portfolios more than seeking expansion of those portfolios. They're really still sorting through interconnection costs and changes in the regulatory environment. With all that said, we have a very strong pipeline of opportunities with what we think are high-quality counterparties. So we feel really good about that runway. And again, especially given the growing demand for power and the relative cost of solar energy, we've really been focused on building out that option portfolio for the last four or five years. But keep in mind, most of these options have terms in the range of five to seven years. So we're just now reaching that point that we should start seeing a more regular turnover of option maturity. So again, as we sit here, we have around 80,000 acres under option. Just for some context, about 35,000 acres of options are set to mature between now and the end of 2028. And so I think over the next few years, we should start to get better visibility on what that long-term conversion rate might look like.

speaker
Mike Roxland
Analyst, Truist Securities

One quick one, last one. You know, the preliminary duties for ADCVD are coming in about 10% below the current AR6 rate, so close to about 24%, 25%. Any thoughts on whether that, if that preliminary duty ultimately comes final and what that means for increasing wood flows into the U.S. and Canada? Thank you.

speaker
Mark McHugh
President and CEO

Yeah, it could change modestly, but we generally expect that it'll stay kind of in that range. Look, we continue to believe the U.S. lumber producers will gain market share going forward as demand improves, given the duties and tariffs on imported lumber. Recognizing this has been slower to materialize than we would have hoped for, just given the demand environment. As it relates to AR7, again, while the preliminary results would bring duties down from the current levels, Let's put that in context. Even based on the lower preliminary rate, the all-in burden on Canadian softwood is still roughly 35% when you factor in the 10% Section 232 tariff on top. So, again, we don't see anything on the horizon that would really reverse the ongoing shift in North American production from Canada into the U.S.

speaker
Mike Roxland
Analyst, Truist Securities

Thank you very much.

speaker
Operator
Conference Operator

Your next question comes from a line of Mark Weintraub with Seaport Research Partner. Mark, your line is open. Please go ahead.

speaker
Mark Weintraub
Analyst, Seaport Research Partners

Thank you. Mark, you guys used to provide guidance for the different segments, both quarter, full year. I recognize business has changed. You've got lumber now in the mix, et cetera. But what's your kind of intention on a go-forward basis? What we see this quarter is this what you're thinking will be the process or might that change?

speaker
Wayne
Chief Financial Officer

Yeah, Mark, I think, What we've disclosed this quarter is more akin to what we would show moving forward. I think giving guidance around volume and other metrics is really the direction we're heading, given there's more volatility associated with wood products, given lumber pricing, and that also translates into the Timberland side with our Idaho region as well.

speaker
Mark McHugh
President and CEO

Just to be clear, Mark, our intent is not to be less transparent than we have been historically, but recognizing that it's very hard to predict lumber prices next week, much less than the next six months out. And so putting an annual forecast out there or annual guidance would essentially be calling a lumber price. And we just don't think that it's prudent to do that because we not only have that variability in the lumber business, But now with the log prices in Idaho indexed to lumber pricing, that's going to create some variability around lumber prices within that business as well. And so, again, we think the volume guidance in the timber segments should provide some layer of detail in terms of what that annual EBITDA outlook would look like. If you just kind of look at historical EBITDA per ton metrics, you should be able to get reasonably close to to an EBITDA guide. But again, we just don't think that it's prudent to put out an annual guide given the variability around lumber pricing.

speaker
Mark Weintraub
Analyst, Seaport Research Partners

Fair enough. And also, Wayne obviously has been on Potlatch before, but Mark, you now have been up close for a couple of months to see even more under the hood. Anything that's been different as you kind of looked at the Potlatch business from what you might have been anticipating?

speaker
Mark McHugh
President and CEO

There really haven't been any notable surprises as we've been working through the integration process. As we said in the prepared remarks, I think the integration is going very well so far. It's been great to see the collaboration and cultural alignment. as we brought these two organizations together. And we've really made a lot of progress, you know, specifically on the organizational design of the new company. You know, that said, it's going to take some time to work through the integration of our processes and systems. But again, we're making good progress there as well. And the team is really focused on implementing best practices as we move forward. Again, it's been really encouraging to see how everybody's working together today. And if anything, I think our conviction around the benefits of scale and just the opportunities that we think this merger will unlock by having a more diversified and larger portfolio, our conviction around that has only grown since we closed the merger. Clearly, there have been a lot of difficult conversations that we've had over the last couple of months. A lot of the synergies that we targeted are ultimately going to be achieved by eliminating overlapping positions and putting in place an efficient organizational structure to take the company forward. Both companies already ran pretty lean from a G&A standpoint, and we both had really exceptional people. So a lot of the personnel decisions we've had to make have certainly been difficult. Yeah, this wasn't a surprise, but it's without a doubt been one of the more difficult aspects of the merger.

speaker
Mark Weintraub
Analyst, Seaport Research Partners

And at the risk of maybe getting too far in front of myself, have you kind of Got thoughts to share on some of the land solutions part of potlatch, be it the solar, the lithium, and, you know, there's some other or Chanel, et cetera, some of the parts which, you know, outside of the core timber business and how your assessments might compare relative to, you know, maybe what people were thinking prior.

speaker
Mark McHugh
President and CEO

Yeah, I wouldn't really say our perspective on those opportunities has changed following the closing. Recognize we did a fair amount of due diligence before the announcement. We've had a fair amount of time between announcement and closing to kind of work through the different opportunities embedded within both portfolios. So, again, no real change there. Again, there are some differences in the portfolio. For example, if you look at Chenal, it's a much more mature project. than what we have with Wild Light and Heartwood. So probably not the same type of trajectory in that business longer term, but it's been a very stable and steady contributor to cash flows. So, again, as we think about implementing best practices going forward, we think there are lessons to be learned from Chennault being, you know, 40 years into its development relative to Wild Light and Heartwood, which are, you know, kind of in the 10-year cycle. So, again, we've really been focused on implementing best practices across across the portfolio. We've seen a lot of opportunities in terms of blending those best practices and the integration is going very well.

speaker
Mark Weintraub
Analyst, Seaport Research Partners

Super. Thanks much.

speaker
Operator
Conference Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Roshni Atheid with BMO Capital Markets. Roshni, your line is open. Please go ahead.

speaker
Roshni Atheid
Analyst, BMO Capital Markets

Hi, good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. Mark, I just want to start with the North timber trends. If you could just talk about like the big year over year drop we're seeing in EBITDA, you know, just wondering if you could point to what was driving that, you know, just to be more clear, like legacy PCH generated 21 million a year ago, you know, right near 6 million. And so just wondering like what's driving that drop.

speaker
Wayne
Chief Financial Officer

Yeah, I think, one you know year over year keep in mind uh lumber pricing uh last year was is is better uh heading into the year than than we started this year well certainly we coming off a very low period you know the end of uh q4 and 25 and lumber pricing has been improving and we're encouraged by that i think when you look year over year that is having an impact especially in idaho where we're indexed to solid so if you're you're looking at historical potlatch and projecting that into this year. While we have seen improvement, lumber pricing isn't as strong as it was quarter over quarter. So that's really driving kind of what we've seen in the Northwest, just where lumber pricing's at. But again, we're encouraged by where we've seen that trending. And as we look to Q2, I think we'll definitely, we believe there's a it'll be higher in Q2, just in the Pacific, in the Northwest.

speaker
Mark McHugh
President and CEO

Yeah, just a couple other points I'd add to that. You know, recognize that Q1 only had two months of the contribution from the potlatch Celtic assets. We also, as we noted in the prepared remarks, you know, we did see, you know, kind of an early spring breakup, so to speak. And that really translated to relatively limited volume moving in Idaho in the first quarter. And so some of that is going to be, you know, seasonal. And we do expect that volume to pick up here in the coming quarters.

speaker
Roshni Atheid
Analyst, BMO Capital Markets

Okay, thanks for that color. Um, and then just, uh, you know, going to the South, like, cause you just touch on pulp with demand trends and, you know, the impact from pulp paper mill closures that you're seeing.

speaker
Mark McHugh
President and CEO

Yeah, we've certainly seen some pressure on pulpwood pricing across the U.S. South. I'd say it's been most pronounced in our Atlantic markets here recently. Again, these areas have really faced this perfect storm of mill closures, hurricane salvage activity, and here more recently, dry weather conditions, which have just further exacerbated that supply-demand imbalance. On a positive note, we do believe that some of these pressures are going to be transitory in nature. For example, we're essentially through the hurricane salvage activity at this point. With that said, with these recent fires, we are probably going to see some renewed salvage headwinds in the near term. Longer term, though, the corollary of these large casualty events is that there will be less timber supply available in the system, and that should improve the overall supply-demand balance in that region longer term. It's also worth noting that even with these recent price declines, the Atlantic markets are still among the strongest in the U.S. South in terms of the relative pulpwood pricing. So as we emerge from some of these supply shocks, we do think that the long-term supply-demand fundamentals in these markets will improve, and they should remain among the most favorable in the U.S. South. So, again, it's been a pretty rough backdrop here for the last several quarters in terms of pulpwood pricing. But from a long-term perspective, we still see these markets as very attractive in terms of our overall portfolio.

speaker
Roshni Atheid
Analyst, BMO Capital Markets

Okay, thanks. I'll turn it over, jump back in the queue. Thank you.

speaker
Operator
Conference Operator

There are no further questions at this time. I will now hand the call over to Colin Mings for closing statements. Colin?

speaker
Colin Mings
Vice President of Capital Markets and Strategic Planning

I'd like to thank everybody for joining us. Please contact us with any follow-up questions.

speaker
Operator
Conference Operator

This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.

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