U.S forest products company Weyerhaeuser Co. (NYSE: WY) posted a quarterly profit on Friday, helped by gains from its transaction with Domtar Corp.

Net income in the first quarter was $755 million, or $3.22 a share, compared with a net loss of $576 million, or $2.34 a share, a year ago, in the same quarter. The gain includes a Canadian tax benefit of $74 million.

Excluding these charges, the company earned $48 million, or 20 cents per diluted share.

Analyst had expected gains of 31 cents per share on earnings of $4.68 billion, according to a poll by Thompson Financial.

The company's bottom line was boosted by a sale of it s fine paper business to Domtar, which added a gain of $3.22 a share.

By completing the innovative Domtar transaction, we created significant value for shareholders through a tax-free transaction and by reducing our outstanding shares by more than 25 million, Steve Rogel, the company's chairman and CEO said.

For the current quarter, the company expects continued challenges in many of its markets, especially in wood products where it expect to see a weaker than normal increase in seasonal demand.

These conditions only underscore the need for us to continue to improve our operating performance and maintain our sharp focus on the strategic initiatives we're implementing to create more value for our shareholders, Rogel said.

Weyerhaeuser is the second largest timber and forest products company by sales.

Shares of the company fell $4.69, or 6 percent to $82.84 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.