Schulman Profit Tops Street; Again Lifts FY Outlook - Update

(RTTNews) - Resin maker A. Schulman Inc (SHLM), Tuesday reported a better-than-expected jump in third-quarter profit, helped mostly by growth across all business regions. Looking ahead, Schulman provided some weak earnings outlook for the fourth quarter, but again lifted expectations for the full year.

Schulman supplies plastic compounds and resins for packaging, automotive, consumer products, and industrial applications.

The Akron, Ohio-based company posted quarterly net earnings of $19 million or $0.65 per share, compared with $5 million or $0.18 per share last year.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $0.74 per share, compared with $0.50 per share a year ago.

On average, four analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated earnings of $0.66 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenue for the third quarter climbed 17.7 percent to $645.7 million from $548.6 million a year ago.

Sales in the Europe, Middle East and Africa segment climbed 14 percent from last year, Americas was up about 19 percent, and Asia Pacific surged 52 percent.

For the fourth quarter, Schulman projects adjusted earnings of $0.61 to $0.66 per share, while analysts currently expect $0.67 per share.

For 2014, Schulman now estimates adjusted earnings of $2.31 to $2.36 per share, from a prior range of $2.23 to $2.28 per share. Analysts currently expect earnings of $2.27 per share for the year.

Schulman closed its $91 million acquisition of a selected majority of the assets of the specialty plastics business from Ferro Corp. The deal is expected to be accretive to adjusted earnings per share.

Schulman stock closed Tuesday at $39.53, up $0.83 or 2.14%, on a volume of 255k shares on the Nasdaq. In after hours, the stock gained $0.31 or 0.78%.