Commenting on the first quarter results, Patrick S. Williams, President and Chief Executive Officer, said,
“This was another pleasing quarter with further sequential sales growth in all of our businesses. Sales in Performance Chemicals reached a record while sales in Fuel Specialties and Oilfield Services advanced sequentially in their post-COVID-19 recovery. Cash generation was again excellent, and we increased our semi-annual dividend payment by 10 percent.
Despite the headwind of economic restrictions and vaccination delays in Europe, Performance Chemicals delivered record quarterly operating income up an impressive 17 percent over the prior year. We are pulling forward organic growth investments which enable less single-use packaging and milder and more natural formulations. This resulted in the authorization during the quarter of $10.0 million in new capital projects which are incremental to our original 2021 plans.
In Fuel Specialties, sales for the first quarter were 5 percent below last year. Global demand for refined fuel products continues to improve but is still below pre-COVID-19 levels. Demand for aviation fuel still lags well behind other transportation fuels. As global oil demand continues to recover, higher volumes should benefit margins as leverage on fixed manufacturing and overhead costs improves. In addition, we expect margins to be supported by a better sales mix as demand for our aviation additives continues to increase over the coming year.
In Oilfield Services sales and operating income continued to grow sequentially despite the US winter storm event which impacted certain oilfield activites during a two week period in February 2021. Sequential sales grew by 28 percent, gross margins remained in the expected range and operating leverage continued to improve. Moving into the second quarter, we currently expect to see additional improvement in activity levels and demand for our products and services.
The pickup in economic activity over the past two quarters has strained the global supply chain. Port delays and regional shipping container shortages in addition to one-off events like the US winter storm and the Suez Canal blockage have led to widespread force majeure declarations in the global chemical industry.
To date our supply chain, manufacturing and sales teams have done an excellent job managing through this environment. In addition to keeping our customers supplied, we have implemented price increases across all our businesses to offset raw material and freight cost inflation due to the above mentioned supply-demand imbalances.”
Revenues in Fuel Specialties were $139.3 million for the quarter, a 5 percent decrease from $147.0 million last year. Volumes fell by 7 percent and there was a negative price/mix impact of 3 percent offsetting a 5 percent positive currency impact. Gross margins of 32.2 percent were at the lower end of our expected range and 2.6 percentage points below the same quarter last year. Operating income for the quarter was $23.8 million, compared to $32.1 million in the same quarter last year.
Revenues in Performance Chemicals reached a record of $125.9 million, up 11 percent from $113.1 million in the first quarter last year. Volume growth of 7 percent and a positive currency impact of 6 percent were partially offset by an adverse price/mix impact of 2 percent. Gross margins improved by 0.5 percentage points from the same quarter last year to 24.9 percent. Operating income reached a record of $18.3 million, up 17 percent from $15.6 million a year ago.
Revenues in Oilfield Services for the quarter were $74.4 million, down 34 percent from $112.2 million in the first quarter last year driven by low levels of US completions activity, but momentum continued on a sequential basis with sales up 28 percent. Gross margins improved by 0.6 percentage points from the same quarter last year to 32.9 percent. Operating income of $1.2 million was down from $7.2 million in the same quarter last year but was a substantial improvement over the $0.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Corporate costs for the quarter were $15.1 million, compared with $12.8 million a year ago, due mainly to higher personnel-related expenses driven by increased share-based compensation accruals following the 13 percent uplift in our share price over the quarter.
The effective tax rate for the quarter was 24.0 percent, compared to 25.1 percent in the same quarter last year.
For the quarter, net cash provided by operating activities was $22.7 million, compared to $2.4 million a year ago. As of March 31, 2021, Innospec had $117.0 million in cash and cash equivalents, and finance lease debt of $0.4 million, resulting in a net cash position of $116.6 million.