UPDATE: Weyerhaeuser Q4 Profit Misses Estimates

reported weaker-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter. The Federal Way, Washington-based company posted a quarterly profit of $166 million, or $0.31 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $43 million , or $0.07 per share. Excluding items, the company's climbed to $0.27 per share from $0.19 per share. Its net sales came in flat at $1.8 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.29 per share on revenue of $1.81 billion. Revenue at its timberlands business slipped 1.4% to $359 million. Sales at Weyerhaeuser's cellulose-fibers division gained 0.8% to $482 million. "In 2014, we demonstrated our commitment to driving shareholder value," said Doyle Simons, president and chief executive officer. "During the year, we divested our homebuilding business to become a focused forest products company, achieved our 2014 operational excellence targets and made significant progress on our multi-year initiatives, and improved earnings from continuing operations by more than 20 percent compared with 2013.” Weyerhaeuser shares fell 0.45% to close at $35.41 yesterday.