MONTREAL -- Stella-Jones Inc. reported first-quarter sales of $775 million, an increase of 9% compared to Q1 2023. First quarter sales included a contribution of $14 million from the recently acquired Baldwin Pole and Piling Company.

Stella-Jones noted that the Q1 sales increase was driven by a 10% organic sales growth of its infrastructure businesses, including utility poles (52%), railway ties (29%), and industrial products, partially offset by lower residential lumber and logs and lumber sales when compared to the same period last year. Stella-Jones added that all infrastructure product categories benefited from higher year-over-year sales prices, while residential lumber sales (11%) were unfavorably impacted by the decrease in the market price of lumber when compared to the same period last year.

“I am pleased with our performance in the first quarter, which marks a strong start to the year and builds upon the momentum we generated in 2023,” said Eric Vachon, president and CEO of Stella-Jones. “Our Q1 performance reflects the ongoing robust fundamental market trends in our infrastructure product categories and an improvement over our solid fourth quarter results. Although we noted a softer pace of purchases by utilities in recent quarters, we are confident that incremental multi-year volume commitments secured from new and existing customers will be realized, highlighting the enduring growth potential of our business.”