LyondellBasell (LYB) Misses Q1 Earnings Estimates, Sales Top

Zacks

LyondellBasell’s LYB profits from continuing operations, as reported, fell around 22% year over year to $805 million or $2.00 per share in the first quarter of 2017. Earnings in the reported quarter were hit by charges related to repayment of debt.

Barring one-time items, earnings came in at $2.26 per share for the quarter, trailing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.33.

Revenues rose roughly 25% year over year to $8,430 million in the quarter, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $7,877 million.

Consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) fell around 11% year over year to $1,617 million in the quarter. The company noted that scheduled maintenance at its U.S. butadiene recovery plant affected margins during the quarter.

LyondellBasell Industries NV Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

LyondellBasell Industries NV Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | LyondellBasell Industries NV Quote

Segment Review

Revenues from the Olefins & Polyolefins – Americas division went up 23% year over year to $2,604 million in the reported quarter. EBITDA, on a reported basis, fell around 18% year over year to $723 million. Combined polyolefin results decreased roughly $165 million year over year.

Sales from the Olefins & Polyolefins – Europe, Asia, International segment rose 17% year over year to $3,024 million. EBITDA rose around 4% year over year to $529 million. Olefin results improved around $20 million year over year resulting from higher sales volumes and improved ethylene prices.

Intermediates and Derivatives segment sales climbed 26% to $2,150 million in the reported quarter. EBITDA went up roughly 4% year over year to $339 million.

Revenues from the Refining segment surged 42% to $1,353 million. EBITDA was at a loss of $30 million compared with a profit of $14 million recorded in the prior-year quarter. Throughput rose by 16,000 barrels per day in the quarter. The company’s refinery performed planned maintenance on the fluid unit during the quarter.

The Technology segment’s sales fell 9% to $120 million. EBITDA declined 28% year over year to $60 million.

Financials

LyondellBasell ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $485 million, down roughly 63% year over year. Long-term debt fell around 1% year over year to $8,419 million.

LyondellBasell bought back 1.5 million shares during the quarter. Share buybacks and dividends totalled $0.5 billion in the reported quarter.

Outlook

The company said that global olefin and polyolefin industry conditions remain favorable in April. With a lighter maintenance schedule, the company expects to benefit from the full availability of its global assets moving forward.

Price Performance

LyondellBasell has underperformed the Zacks categorized Chemicals-Diversified industry over a year. The company's shares gained 5.8% during the period while the industry saw a gain of 18.3%.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

LyondellBasell is a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock.

Better-placed companies in the chemical space include The Chemours Company CC, Methanex Corporation MEOH and Kronos Worldwide, Inc. KRO, all holding a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Chemours has an expected long-term growth of 15.5%.

Methanex has an expected long-term growth of 15%.

Kronos has an expected long-term growth of 5%.

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