A. Schulman touts strong balance sheet, ends Q2 with $365 million debt

By Lisa Kerner

Charlotte, N.C., April 7 – A. Schulman, Inc. ended its fiscal second 2015 quarter on Feb. 28 with a strong balance sheet and a strong operational performance, even given the full effect to the rapid foreign exchange impact, according to chief financial officer Joseph Levanduski.

The company held its earnings conference call on Tuesday.

A. Schulman ended the six-month period with cash and cash equivalents of $92 million, compared to $90 million for the prior-year period.

Long-term debt totaled $365 million at Feb. 28, up from $340 million at Aug. 31, according to the earnings news release.

President and chief executive officer Bernard Rzepka said the company’s acquisition of Citadel Plastics should be completed in the third quarter. A. Schulman is working with banks to secure the financing, he said during the conference call.

Financial highlights

The company reported consolidated net sales for the quarter of about $542 million, compared with about $589 million in the year-ago period.

Net sales were negatively impacted by about $60 million due to foreign currency translation, but offset by incremental net sales.

Gross margin improved year over year to 14.5% from 12.8%.

Cash from operations for the six-month period improved by roughly $10 million year over year to $1.1 million.

“We are again committed, despite the foreign currencies declines, to realize another year of earnings per share growth from our 2014 adjusted results of $2.36 per diluted share,” said Rzepka.

On March 23, the company revised its previously announced fiscal 2015 full-year adjusted net income guidance by a 6% to 8% improvement to $2.50 to $2.55 per diluted share. The revision does not include any contributions from the pending acquisition of Citadel, Rzepka noted.

A. Schulman is an Akron, Ohio-based supplier of high-performance plastic compounds and resins.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.