 |
 |
||||||
[May 2007]
Minerals Technologies Reports First Quarter Figures
Minerals Technologies Inc (New York, USA) has reported first quarter diluted earnings per common share of US$0.56, a 13% decline from the US$0.64 reported in the first quarter of 2006. Net income for the quarter was US$10.8 million, which was 16% lower than the US$12.8 million reported in the same period a year ago.
World-wide sales were US$273.5 million, a 3% increase from the US$264.7 million reported in Q! 2006 and a 4% increase from Q4 2006. Foreign exchange had a favourable impact of approximately US$5.4 million on sales or 2 percentage points of growth as compared with Q1 2006. For the quarter, income from operations was US$19.9 million, a 6% increase over the $18.8 million reported last year. Sequentially, income from operations declined 4% in Q1 2007 from Q4 2006.
During the first quarter of 2006, the company recorded a pre-tax insurance settlement gain in non-operating income of US$1.8 million for property damage sustained at a facility in Easton, Pennsylvania. This increased prior year's earnings by approximately US$0.05 per share.
"The first quarter of 2007 was as difficult as we expected," said Joseph Muscari, Chairman and CEO. "We were able, however, to mitigate some of the earnings impact through an expense control program that we introduced in early March. The company experienced softness in the North American paper and steel industries and continued weakness in the residential housing market."
Sales in the Specialty Minerals segment, which includes the company's Precipitated Calcium Carbonate (PCC) and Processed Minerals product lines, increased 2% US$184.0 million. Income from operations in this segment increased 9% to US$13.2 million.
World-wide sales of Processed Minerals products decreased 10% to US$35.4 million. This decrease was attributable primarily to the continued weakness in the residential and commercial construction markets. In addition, SYNSIL® Products sales decreased 39% to US$1.4 million. This decline was primarily attributable to a reduction in commercial demand from the company's customer sampling facility in Ohio. In addition, sales from the company's two commercial facilities remain below expectations.
Refractories segment sales, which are used primarily in the steel industry, increased 7% in the first quarter to US$89.5 million. This increase was attributable to the incremental sales from the recent acquisition in Turkey. Strong volume demand in Europe and Asia offset the lower demand in North America. In addition, foreign exchange had a favourable impact of US$1.9 million or approximately 2 percentage points of sales growth. Income from operations for the Refractories segment was US$6.7 million, level with the prior year. This segment experienced weakness in the metallurgical product line and additional costs related to new business development activities in Asia.
Sales of refractory products and systems for steel and other industrial applications increased 17% in the first quarter to US$71.5 million from US$61.1 million last year. Sales of metallurgical products within the Refractories segment decreased 20% in the first quarter to US$18.0 million. This decrease was primarily attributable to lower volumes in North America and Latin America and lower prices resulting from the reduction in the cost of raw materials that is traditionally passed through to the customers for this product line.
"As we continue into 2007, we will be further assessing the company's strategy and improving our core processes so that we can get back on a profit improvement track and achieve higher levels of Return on Capital," said Mr Muscari. "The key areas of focus will be Product Innovation, Operational Excellence, Customer Satisfaction and Safety, with particular emphasis near term on improved capital management and spending control."
www.mineralstech.com
ENDS