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[May 2005]
Increased Revenues for CARBO Ceramics
CARBO Ceramics Inc (Irving, TX, USA) announced net income of US$11.6 million on record revenues of US$61.2 million for the first quarter of 2005. Revenues for the quarter increased 22% and net income increased 21% compared to the first quarter of 2004.
Sales volume was 201.3 million pounds, an increase of 17% compared to Q1 2004. Sales volume relative to Q1 2004 increased in all major geographic markets. US sales volume increased 5%, Canadian volume 51%, Mexican volume 150% and other international sales increased by 10%. Revenues for Q1 2005 included US$6 million from Pinnacle Technologies Inc - up from US$3.6 million in Q1 2004.
The company said that construction of its new manufacturing facility in Wilkinson County, GA, USA remained on schedule for completion at the end of 2005. This facility represents an investment of approximately US$62 million and is expected to increase manufacturing capacity of CARBO's ceramic proppants by 250 million pounds per year. The company's previously announced project to construct a new manufacturing facility in the Russian Federation is still scheduled for ground-breaking this month but remains subject to certain Russian federal government approvals. The proposed manufacturing facility will be located in the city of Kopeysk, 1,000 miles east of Moscow.
Dr Mark Pearson, President and CEO, said of the financial results: "We are pleased by our operating and financial performance for the quarter. Our goal for this year remains to produce solid results while we build for future growth. With the normal seasonal slowdown in Canada, we may see a decline in sales volume of approximately 5% during the second quarter.
"However, the increased level of drilling activity around the globe has increased both the current demand and potential market for ceramic proppants and our long-term outlook is very positive. We are actively working to add capacity to serve this growing global market and are excited about the current status of our expansion projects in the U.S. and the Russian Federation."
ENDS