|
||
|
Marplex Acquires Compound Solutions – focus on growing Welvic PVC brand Melbourne-based Compounds Solutions business has become part of Marplex Australia Pty Ltd following acquisition of the PVC compounder's assets by Orica Limited. The purchase of the Compound Solutions business will strengthen the Marplex position in the regional PVC market and provide a growth platform to continue to build the Welvic™ brand. Marplex is the internationally operating polymers division of the Orica Chemnet group. Marplex Business Development Manager Ian Hoult said the new acquisition will be integrated into the established Marplex polymer group. "This acquisition confirms our commitment to the $60 million Australian PVC compounding market," said Ian Hoult. "We identified Compound Solutions to leverage growth because its operations, products and services complement the Marplex business strategy. The Compound Solutions business also reflected the Marplex culture of focusing externally on market trends and the needs of individual customers. These new PVC compounding assets also increase our manufacturing flexibility. With these additional resources, we can produce an extended range of custom compounds to order and have provision for short run production. The colour capability of the Compound Solutions business fits well with our existing state of the art colour matching skills and facilities", Hoult said. According to officials, Marplex can develop PVC compounds tailored to specific customer needs efficiently by using technology available from global resources and applying it directly to local product development. "Marplex is committed to completing the integration of Compound Solutions within the next few weeks and to making it as seamless as possible for customers. We are arranging personal meetings with all Compound Solutions customers to ensure we know them and understand their needs," said Ian Hoult. |
||||||
Qatar Petroleum, Chevron Phillips Chemical, Qatar Petrochemical Company (QAPCO), and Total Petrochemicals Sign Letter of Intent With Technip France Qatar Petroleum, Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC, Qatar Petrochemical Company Ltd (QAPCO) and Total Petrochemicals announce they have signed a letter of intent with Technip France to provide engineering, procurement and construction services to build an ethylene cracker in Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar. The cracker will provide ethylene feedstock via pipeline to derivative units planned for development in Mesaieed, Qatar. This cracker venture will be owned by Qatar Petrochemical Company Ltd (QAPCO) and Total Petrochemicals through their Qatofin joint venture, and Qatar Petroleum with Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC through their Q-Chem II joint venture. The Q-Chem II project and the ethylene cracker are expected to begin operation in late 2008. Lamson & Sessions, Net Sales Rise 19% to a Record $98.8 Million Lamson & Sessions announced record net sales of $98.8 million for the first quarter of 2005, an increase of 19.0 percent over the $83.0 million reported in the first quarter of 2004. Net sales improved by more than 10 percent in each of the Company's three business segments as sales order rates strengthened in its key markets of residential, commercial, industrial, utility and telecom infrastructure construction. Net income for the first quarter of 2005 rose to $2.2 million, or 15 cents per diluted share, compared with $1.7 million, or 12 cents per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2004. The prior-year first quarter includes income from discontinued operations of $401,000 (net of tax), or 3 cents per diluted share. Net income from continuing operations in the prior-year first quarter was $1.3 million, or 9 cents per diluted share, which amount includes pretax income of $924,000 ($554,000 net of tax, or 4 cents per diluted share) from the gain on the sale of a manufacturing facility, and a $300,000 ($180,000 net of tax, or 1 cent per diluted share) recovery from the Adelphia bankruptcy. "We are pleased to see improving demand activity across several of our markets, particularly in telecom infrastructure and non-residential construction," said John B. Schulze, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "These improving market conditions have allowed us to recover part of the significant increases which we continue to experience in our raw material costs." The Company's gross margin improved to 17.2 percent in the first quarter of 2005, from 16.0 percent in the first quarter of 2004. This improvement was primarily due to a more favorable product mix, higher sales prices and productivity improvements in the Company's operating facilities. Operating expenses increased 12.2 percent to $11.4 million in the first quarter, compared with $10.1 million in the prior-year first quarter, reflecting higher selling and marketing costs to support the significantly higher net sales level. As a percent of sales, operating expense for the first quarter of 2005 decreased to 11.5 percent from the 12.2 percent level reported in the first quarter of 2004. |
||||||
PolyOne, Second-quarter outlook anticipates sequentially higher sales and operating income PolyOne Corporation reported sales from continuing operations of $576.7 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2005, an increase of $41.1 million, or 8 percent, compared with the first quarter of 2004. Operating income from continuing operations was $38.7 million for the first quarter of 2005, a $14.1 million improvement over the same period in 2004 and a $22.5 million improvement over the fourth quarter of 2004. Net income for the first quarter of 2005 was $13.4 million, or $0.15 per share -- an improvement over the first quarter of 2004 of $9.4 million, or $0.11 per share. Special items for continuing and discontinued operations reduced earnings in the 2005 first quarter by $0.05 per share. The most significant special item was a $10.9 million pre-tax non-cash charge to reflect impairment of net assets associated with discontinued operations. A definition and a list of special items appear in Attachment 4. "We made good progress during the quarter recovering product spreads -- selling price less raw materials -- in our core businesses," said Thomas A. Waltermire, president and chief executive officer. "We also benefited from further improvement in our cost structure and a strong contribution from our equity investments. However, softer demand in the U.S. and Europe limited year-over-year shipment growth for most of our operating units." Waltermire added, "Cash flow in the quarter was negative, largely due to working capital investment required to support higher sales growth. We do expect to see working capital needs decline during the second quarter. By year end, we anticipate healthy positive cash generation from our operations." Westlake Chemical Corporation, Reports earnings per share up over 300% Westlake Chemical Corporation reported net income of $61.1 million, or $0.94 per diluted share, and operating income of $101.7 million on net sales of $618.6 million for the first quarter of 2005. This compares favorably with the first quarter 2004 net income of $10.7 million, or $0.22 per diluted share, and operating income of $26.9 million on net sales of $400.9 million. The improvement in net sales and operating income was primarily the result of increased sales volumes and increased selling prices, which outpaced higher feedstock and energy costs. PVC pipe sales volume increased due to the acquisition of the assets of Bristolpipe Corporation, which was completed on August 2, 2004. Included in the 2005 first quarter results is a $0.4 million after tax charge related to the early retirement of debt, which negatively impacted earnings per share by $0.01. Westlake Chemical uses the first-in, first-out (FIFO) method for valuing inventory. As a result of declining prices of feedstock in the first quarter of 2005, first quarter results were negatively impacted as compared with utilizing the last-in, first-out (LIFO) method used by some of the company's competitors. Albert Chao, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "We are pleased to report strong first quarter results with record revenues and earnings, expanding margins and continued solid operating rates in both our olefins and vinyls segments." First quarter 2005 net income increased $13.8 million from the $47.3 million net income, or $0.73 per diluted share, reported in the fourth quarter of 2004 primarily due to increased selling prices and lower feedstock and energy costs. First quarter net sales were favorable to the fourth quarter net sales of $563.1 million due to increased selling prices and slightly higher sales volumes, while operating income compared favorably to the fourth quarter operating income of $81.4 million primarily due to higher selling prices and lower feedstock and energy costs. EBITDA (earnings before interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization) for the first quarter of 2005 was $122.9 million compared to $47.7 million in the first quarter of 2004 and $100.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2004. A reconciliation of EBITDA to reported net income and to cash flow from operating activities can be found in the financial tables at the end of this press release. The company generated strong cash flow from operations of $52.3 million in the first quarter of 2005 and repaid $30.3 million of its senior secured notes, ending the quarter with $46.6 million of cash on the balance sheet. VINYLS SEGMENT Income from operations for the Vinyls segment increased by $45.0 million to $41.7 million in the first quarter of 2005 from a $3.3 million loss in the first quarter of 2004. This increase was primarily due to higher selling prices and higher sales volumes for all of the company's vinyls products. These increases were partially offset by higher energy costs and higher raw material costs for propane. The first quarter 2004 earnings were adversely impacted by a fire at the Calvert City ethylene plant. We estimate that the impact on operating income of the outage relating to the fire was approximately $12.5 million. First quarter income from operations increased by $23.0 million from the $18.7 million income from operations reported in the fourth quarter of 2004. The increase was primarily due to higher selling prices for all of the company's vinyls products, higher sales volumes and the start-up of its VCM and PVC facilities in Geismar, Louisiana. European Thermoplastic Sheet Market to Hit 4 Million Tons
ICIS-LOR announces the launch of its IPEX World Petrochemical Price Index ICIS-LOR, the global market pricing and intelligence service for the oil and chemicals industry, announces the launch of its IPEX World Petrochemical Price Index. The IPEX index provides an authoritative, independent indicator of average change in world petrochemical prices. "IPEX gives a concise overview of the global trends dating back to 1993 through raiding our extensive price history vaults," said Andy Soloman, Global Editorial Director of ICIS. ICIS-LOR's historical prices for a basket of twelve essential petrochemical grades in the US, Western European, and the North East Asian markets have been weighted by regional nameplate capacity to generate a monthly index value. The IPEX product basket is composed by the following twelve grades: ethylene, propylene, benzene, toluene, paraxylene, styrene, methanol, butadiene, PVC, polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene. ICIS-LOR, an independent pricing and market intelligence service from ICIS, provides petrochemical and oil markets with reports published daily, weekly or monthly on more than 120 commodities. The pricing information is gathered by teams of experienced reporters in London, Houston, Singapore and Shanghai to offer the most complete, authoritative and up-to-the minute independent market information available. For further information on ICIS-LOR and ICIS. http://www.icis.com |
||||||
