Currently viewing and reading

Minerals Technologies’ Fourth Quarter Diluted Earnings Per Share Were $0.62, Excluding Special Items; Reported Earnings Were $0.22 Per Share

Posted by Dana in February 5th 2010

Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE: MTX) reported net income of $4.1 million, or $0.22 per share, for the fourth quarter 2009, compared with $8.9 million, or $0.47 per share in the third quarter of 2009. Earnings per share, excluding restructuring and impairment charges, were $0.62 compared to $0.53 per share in the third quarter.

The company’s worldwide sales in the fourth quarter increased 9 percent to $256.2 million from $234.3 million in the third quarter. Excluding special items, income from operations was $17.3 million, a 22-percent increase over the $14.2 million recorded in the prior quarter. This growth was attributable to the significant improvement in the Refractories segment as a result of volume increases related to improved steel industry conditions, and to the benefits from the restructuring program. Income from operations, as reported, was $4.5 million compared to $12.8 million in the prior year.

The Specialty Minerals segment’s worldwide sales in the fourth quarter increased 5 percent to $170.3 million compared to $162.5 million in the prior quarter. Income from operations, excluding special items, decreased 4 percent to $15.1 million compared with $15.8 million in the third quarter. The Processed Minerals product line was affected by volume declines as a result of the seasonal downturn of the construction industry, which was, however, less severe than anticipated.

Worldwide sales of PCC, which is used primarily in the manufacturing processes of the paper industry, were $146.3 million, a 6-percent increase over the $137.5 million recorded in the third quarter. This growth was primarily attributable to increased volumes in all regions. Worldwide unit volumes of Paper PCC were up approximately 5 percent from the third quarter.

During the fourth quarter, Minerals Technologies completed construction and started operation of a satellite PCC facility in the state of Maharashtra, India, that provides PCC to a paper mill owned by Ballarpur Industries Limited (BILT). The company also recently announced that it had entered into a long-term agreement with NewPage Corporation to supply 70,000 tons per year of precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) for filling supercalendered paper at the NewPage Duluth, Minnesota, paper mill. The company will construct a PCC production facility in Superior, Wisconsin, that will be built on a site owned by Graymont WI, a lime supplier, and is expected to be in operation in the second quarter of 2011.

In the company’s Refractories segment, sales for the fourth quarter were $85.9 million, a 20-percent increase over the $71.8 million recorded in the third quarter. Excluding special items, the segment recorded operating income of $3.3 million compared to an operating loss of $1.1 million in the third quarter.

Sales of refractory products and systems, used primarily in the steel market, increased 21 percent in the fourth quarter to $68.5 million from $56.8 million in the third quarter of 2009. This increase was attributable to improved production rates in the worldwide steel industry, which resulted in 15 percent higher volumes in refractory products, and to additional equipment sales. Sales in the metallurgical product line increased 16 percent sequentially to $17.4 million from $15.0 million in the previous quarter due to a favorable product mix in the calcium cored wire product line.