Commenting on the first quarter results, Patrick S. Williams, President and Chief Executive Officer, said,
“As the chemical industry enters these difficult and unknown times, facing the twin challenges of theCOVID-19 pandemic and the low price of crude oil, we feel that we are strategically well-placed with our diversified portfolio and strong balance sheet. We believe that it is vital to react and adapt to global changes and preserve liquidity until markets recover.
Innospec had a strong first quarter in 2020 and prior to the current crises, we believed we were on track for another outstanding year. We delivered a 13 percent increase in operating income and adjusted EPS was up 14 percent. We ended the quarter in a net cash position, maintaining our strong balance sheet. We feel that it is prudent use of capital to hold our dividend payment at the same level as the second half of 2019. Subject to market conditions and the strength of our balance sheet, it is still our intention to increase our full year dividend.
Fuel Specialties performed well against a strong first quarter of 2019. There were challenges in this market, with the marine business being impacted by the shipping downturn in China and a slowdown in miles driven towards the end of the quarter as we felt the early effects of theCOVID-19 pandemic. Despite this, our gross and operating margins remained within the expected range.
Performance Chemicals volumes were up significantly, but revenue was impacted by pass-through of falling raw material prices. We saw little impact from theCOVID-19 pandemic during the first quarter. I am again pleased that our focus on margin improvement has delivered increased profitability, through a combination of new product development and cost control.
The market for Oilfield Services continued to deteriorate in the quarter, which makes the first quarter performance of our business all the more impressive, delivering a similar operating income to the same quarter in 2019.”
Revenues in Fuel Specialties were $147.0 million for the quarter, a 6 percent decrease from $156.0 million last year. Volumes fell by 5 percent and there was a negative currency impact of 2 percent, partly offset by a positive price/mix impact of 1 percent. Gross margins were broadly similar to last year’s first quarter at 34.8 percent and within our expected range for this business. Operating income for the quarter was $32.1 million, compared to $32.9 million in the same quarter last year.
Revenues in Performance Chemicals were $113.1 million, down 4 percent from $118.1 million in the first quarter last year. Volume growth of 7 percent was offset by an adverse price/mix impact of 9 percent and a negative currency impact of 2 percent. As a result of our strategic focus, gross margins improved by 1.9 percentage points from the same quarter last year to 24.4 percent. Operating income increased to $15.6 million, up 16 percent from $13.5 million a year ago.
Revenues in Oilfield Services for the quarter were $112.2 million, down 2 percent from $114.2 million in the first quarter of 2019. Reduced customer activity in completions was partly offset by increases in revenue from production chemicals, drag reducing agents and our new business in Saudi Arabia. Gross margins were down slightly on the comparable quarter at 32.3 percent. Operating income of $7.2 million for the quarter was slightly down compared to $7.8 million in the first quarter of 2019.
As we anticipated, there were no Octane Additives revenues in the quarter, the same as the first quarter of 2019, which resulted in an operating loss of $1.2 million for the quarter, compared to a loss of $2.8 million in the same period last year.
Corporate costs for the quarter were $12.8 million, compared with $15.2 million a year ago, due mainly to lower personnel-related expenses driven by reduced share-based compensation accruals.
The effective tax rate for the quarter was 25.1 percent, compared to 26.0 percent in the same quarter last year.
For the quarter, net cash provided by operating activities was $2.4 million, compared to $13.2 million a year ago. As of March 31, 2020, Innospec had $68.1 million in cash and cash equivalents and total debt of $59.9 million, resulting in net cash of $8.2 million.