Commenting on the third quarter results, Patrick S. Williams, President and Chief Executive Officer said,
“This has been an excellent quarter for Innospec. The results are entirely in line with the direction we indicated last quarter, indicating that our strategy is a strong foundation for continued success. All of our core businesses showed sales and margin improvements which combined with careful cost control has driven outstanding operating income improvements. Overall, revenue is up 9 percent and operating income before restructuring charges is up 32 percent on the same quarter last year, which gives us great confidence in our business.”
“We have also delivered much improved cash generation, in line with the indications we gave last quarter.”
“Fuel Specialties has combined solid volume growth with an expansion of margins back to the higher end of our expected range, as customers in automotive, marine and power applications continued to value our exceptional technology and service.”
“Performance Chemicals built on its strong performance in the first half of the year, delivering 4 percent sales growth in the third quarter and a significant improvement in gross margins which has helped drive a 28 percent increase in operating income. We feel that continued new product launches are underpinning a steady expansion of our portfolio, which is resonating well with our personal and homecare customers.”
“We have been very clear about our priorities in Oilfield Services and that focus is clearly paying dividends. Not only have we recorded a substantial increase in sales, but margins are now moving sequentially in the right direction, as our recent actions start to come to fruition. We believe that our direction is now well established and that we have further improvement to come.”
“Octane Additives delivered sales as we had indicated, at a rate slightly lower than the same period last year. Overall, the prognosis for this business remains unchanged.”
“Even with our Octane Additives segment slightly down on the quarter compared to 2017, we have increased our adjusted EPS by 20 percent, which is a great achievement in a challenging environment.”
“In our results, we have included a provision for the redundancy costs associated with the closure of our site at Everberg, Belgium, which we announced on October 16, 2018.”
Net sales in Fuel Specialties for the quarter were $134.9 million, a 4 percent increase from $130.1 million last year. Volumes increased by 3 percent, combined with a positive price/mix of 1 percent. Gross margins in the segment were 36.2 percent, towards the higher end of our expected range, moving up by 3.0 percentage points sequentially, and 1.9 percentage points above the same period last year. Operating income for the quarter was $28.8 million, up 15 percent from last year’s $25.1 million.
In Performance Chemicals, net sales of $114.8 million were up 4 percent on last year driven by volume growth of 3 percent and a favorable price/mix of 1 percent. As anticipated, the segment’s gross margin improved to 22.0 percent in the quarter, up from 18.8 percent in the same period last year and up 2.0 percentage points sequentially. Operating income of $12.4 million for the quarter was up 28 percent compared to the $9.7 million recorded a year ago.
Sales in Oilfield Services were $104.2 million, up 27 percent on the third quarter of 2017, driven by an improvement in customer activity. Volumes were up by 24 percent and there was a positive price/mix impact of 3 percent. Gross margins improved sequentially to 32.1 percent from 30.1 percent in the second quarter, but were down from 34.8 percent in the same period last year, as we continue to work to recover inflationary costs. Operating income of $7.0 million in the quarter was almost 4 times higher than the $1.8 million reported in the same period last year.
In Octane Additives, net sales for the quarter were $9.2 million, with the current order being fulfilled as expected. Gross margin was 37.0 percent reflecting lower production volume and operating income of $2.7 million was down compared to the $4.4 million recorded a year ago.
Corporate costs were $12.7 million and within our expected range, up from $12.0 million a year ago. The effective tax rate for the quarter was 32.2 percent compared to 22.1 percent in 2017 as a consequence of the geographical location of profits.