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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Koppers Holdings Inc.’s
KOP shares rose after the company came up with its third-quarter 2020 results,
wherein both earnings and revenues surpassed the respective Zacks Consensus
Estimate and also grew on a year-over-year basis, reported YahooFinance.
The
Pennsylvania-based company also raised its earnings outlook for 2020. Its shares
popped 5.8% last Thursday on forecast-topping results and upbeat earnings
outlook.
Koppers logged profits (attributable to the company) of USD75.6
million or USD3.53 per share for the third quarter, up from a profit of US19.9
million or 94 cents a year ago.
Barring one-time items, earnings were
USD1.64 per share for the quarter, up from USD1.16 per share a year ago.
Earnings topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of USD1.29.
Koppers recorded
revenues of USD437.5 million for the quarter, up 0.8% year over year. It also
surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of USD425.8 million. Sales were driven by
favorable impacts of currency swings.
Sales from the Railroad and Utility
Products and Services segment went down around 4% year over year to USD191
million in the reported quarter. The decline was due to decreased volumes in the
commercial crosstie market, offset by improved demand for utility poles in
Australia and crosstie disposal services in the United States.
The
Performance Chemicals unit recorded sales of US147.9 million in the quarter, up
around 19% year over year. Sales were driven by sustained demand for
copper-based preservatives in the United States and pent-up demand in
international markets.
Sales from the Carbon Materials and Chemicals
division fell around 12% year over year to USD98.6 million. Sales were impacted
by reduced prices for carbon pitch and phthalic anhydride and lower demand for
carbon black feedstock globally.
Koppers ended the quarter with cash and
cash equivalents of USD39.5 million, down around 3% year over year. Long-term
debt was USD796.1 million, down around 16% year over year.
Koppers
envisions sales for 2020 to be roughly USD1.6 billion. The company also expects
adjusted EBITDA to be in the band of USD204-USD210 million for the year, higher
than its earlier view of USD196-USD204 million. Moreover, Koppers sees adjusted
earnings per share for 2020 in the band of USD3.65-USD3.90, also up from its
prior expectation of USD3.25-USD3.50.
The company also expects
investments of $55-$60 million in capital expenditures this year, mainly
associated with improving safety and reliability of its existing infrastructure.
It also plans to cut debt by around USD125 million in 2020.
As MRC reported earlier,
Koppers has restarted its phthalic anhydride (PA) unit following a maintenance
turnaround. The company resumed operations at the unit on October 10, 2019.
The unit remained under maintenance for about 40 days. Located in Stickney,
Illinois, USA, the unit has a production capacity of 100,000
mt/year.
Phthalic anhydride is widely used in for the production of
paints and varnishes and plasticizers for PVC products. In a small amount it is
used in the manufacture of rubber products, tires. In addition, it is used in
the light, pharmaceutical and electrical industries.
According to MRC's DataScope report,
imports of suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) into Russia totalled 38,500
tonnes in the first ten months of 2020, down by 16% year on year. At the same
time, exports decrease by 1%. |
