BCBusiness

JULY/AUGUST 2017 BCBUSINESS 91 Hardwoods Distribution Inc. REVENUE CHANGE: 38.1% NET INCOME: $23.5 million NET INCOME CHANGE: –35.6% First, a primer on the dierence between hardwood and softwood, because it's not what you might expect. Softwood comes from conifers and is popular in construction—think two- by-fours—because of its malleability. It also accounts for the vast majority of lumber milled and processed in B.C. Hardwood comes from deciduous trees and is much less construction- friendly—more suitable for -oorboards, cabinetry and decoration. Little of it is milled in Canada. That's where Langley- headquartered Hardwoods Distribution comes in. One of the largest distributors of hardwood in North America, the company sold some $789 million worth of lumber in 2016, up from almost $572 million in 2015. It owes most of that rise to its US$107-million takeover of Rugby Acquisition LLC, a leading U.S. whole- saler. Although Hardwoods Distribution is based in B.C., the bulk of its business comes from selling lumber harvested in the eastern U.S. back into the American market, which accounts for 85 per cent of its revenue. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. REVENUE CHANGE: 42.4% NET INCOME: $352.58 million NET INCOME CHANGE: 31.1% Despite volatile precious metals prices, Wheaton Precious Metals—formerly known as Silver Wheaton—made bank from gold in 2016. The Vancouver-based company, which has stakes in 22 operat- ing mines in 10 countries, bene™ted from a spike in gold production at the Salobo mine in northeast Brazil and Constancia mine in Peru. In total, its streams produced 353,700 ounces of gold in 2016, up 110,700 from 243,000 ounces in 2015. Gold became such an important component of revenue last year that the company dropped "Silver" from its name this May. Wheaton also has a unique business model among major miners. It doesn't own any mines outright; instead, it buys a share of pro- duction upfront. In the case of Salobo, which is operated by Brazil's Vale SA, Wheaton Precious Metals paid US$3.06 billion for 75 per cent of future produc- tion in 2013. It's a lucrative strate£y in years when precious metals prices rise, and 2016 was one of them. Imperial Metals Corp. REVENUE CHANGE: 232.7% NET INCOME: –$55 million NET INCOME CHANGE: NA In the days following the collapse of a tailings pond dam at the Mount Polley mine near Williams Lake in August 2014, Vancouver-based Imperial Metals was forced to halt operations at its most important asset. That stoppage sent production of copper and gold into a tail- spin, with the former falling from 24.5 million pounds in 2014 to eight million pounds in 2015. By the end of that year, the company had posted a $97-million net loss. Luckily for Imperial, Mount Polley wasn't its only asset in the works. Less than a year after the spill, the com- pany started production at the Red Chris RANK COMPANY REVENUE 2016 ($000) REVENUE 2015 ($000) % CHANGE 1 Imperial Metals Corp. 428,218 128,701 232.7 2 Imperial Parking Corp. 723,222 407,000 77.7 3 Creation Technologies 834,628 c 566,469 c 47.3 4 Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. 1,181,140 c 829,483 c 42.4 5 Seaspan ULC 766,000 543,000 41.1 6 Hardwoods Distribution Inc. 789,321 571,598 38.1 7 Silver Standard Resources Inc. 650,461 479,928 c 35.5 8 South Coast B.C. Trans. Auth. (TransLink) 2,152,346 1,627,650 32.2 9 First Majestic Silver Corp. 368,398 c 280,605 c 31.3 10 Capstone Mining Corp. 701,355 c 537,640 c 30.5 c=converted from USD at 1.3248 (2016) and 1.2787 (2015) Revenue is by fiscal year MINING PROFITS Wheaton Precious Metals and Imperial Metals both made good hauls in 2016 ISTOCK

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