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Celanese Q3 earnings up 15%, boosts full year outlook

Published: 16:33 25 Oct 2011 BST

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Celanese (NYSE:CE) boosted its earnings outlook for the full year by ten cents on Tuesday, after price increases across its four major segments boosted its third quarter earnings by 15 percent.

The manufacturer of specialty materials and chemical products said it now expects its full year earnings to be about $4.67 per share - that's $1.30 higher than the $3.37 per share it earning in 2010, $0.10 higher than its previous outlook, and above the $4.60 per share that analysts are anticipating.

For the three months ended September 30, Celanese posted net income of $167 million, or 41.05 per share, up 15 percent from $145 million, or $0.92 per share, a year ago. Adjusted for certain one-time items, including $43 million associated with the company's polyacetal European capacity expansion, earnings were $1.27 per share.

Revenues hiked 20 percent to $1.81 billion, from $1.51 billion in the same period last year.

Analysts polled by Bloomberg Businessweek estimated earnings of $1.08 per share, on $1.7 billion in sales for this third quarter.

Celanese CEO David Weidman said: "Celanese delivered a record third quarter, which included record performances in Advanced Engineered Materials and Industrial Specialties, reflecting year-over-year demand growth across our businesses and execution of our strategic objectives."

Indeed, the company's Advanced Engineered Materials business posted revenues of $332 million, up 23 percent, reflecting higher selling prices, higher sale volumes, the benefit of currency exchanges, and the positive impact of the company's recently acquired product lines, which offset higher raw material costs and spending associated with Celanese's expansion into Asia.

The Industrial Specialties business posted a 20 percent rise in revenues, to $332 million, as higher prices offset lower volumes. A temporary manufacturing outage stunted volumes of the company's Acetate Products business, though higher volumes in the Nutrinova business helped to offset the impact.

Favourable industry positions boosted sales in the company's Acetyl Intermediates business, which rose 25 percent to $975 million. Meanwhile, the Consumer Specialties segment posted $298 million in sales, up three percent, on higher prices and strong performance in the Asia region.

"We remain confident that Celanese's strong business fundamentals, including leading technology, low cost positions, broad end-market diversity and strong presence in emerging economies, will continue to drive growth and create value for shareholders throughout an economic cycle," Weidman said.

The Dallas, Texas-based company saw its shares in New York rise 0.76 percent to $42.48 as of 11:22 am EDT.

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