world news - 10.11.2006

Sino-Forest 3Q 2006 net income increased by 36.0% to $45.1 million

Sino-Forest Corporation announced on November 9  its third quarter 2006 financial results. Revenues increased by 30.6% in quarter to $188.5 million and by 22.2% year-to-date to $394.7 million.  Net income increased by 36.0% to $45.1 million in third quarter and by 27.3% to $68.9 million for nine months. Diluted EPS increased by 34.7% to $0.32 per share in quarter and by 25.3% to $0.49 year-to-date.

In million dollars

"We are very pleased with the continued strong performance that Sino-Forest has achieved thus far this year and in the third quarter", said Allen Chan, Sino-Forest's chairman and CEO. "During the third quarter, we focused our efforts on several business matters. We continued to focus on two new provinces; Hunan and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. In Hunan, we acquired additional plantations as well as entered into an agreement to acquire 100 000 hectares of plantation trees over a fourteen year period. In Inner Mongolia, we continued to plan and build infrastructure to facilitate the executing and regeneration programme of the long-term supply agreement."

Sino-Forest Corporation, a publicly-listed company on the Toronto Stock Exchange, is the leading foreign owned commercial forestry plantations operator in China in terms of plantation area. The Corporation started its operations in China in 1994 and was the first foreign and privately managed company involved in forest products in the country. Its principal business activities include the ownership and management of forestry plantation trees and the sales and trading of logs, timber and wood chips. Besides being a leading supplier of commercial wood fibre, Sino-Forest also has manufacturing operations to complement its business operations.

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