Six Months Ended – June 30, 2019 vs. June 30, 2018
Of the 22% decrease in net sales, 14% was due to lower sales volume, primarily related to SSBR and ESBR as a result of weakness in the global tire market, and 5% was due to currency impacts as the euro weakened in comparison to the U.S. dollar during the period. An additional 4% decrease was due to lower pricing from the pass through of lower raw material costs, primarily styrene and butadiene.
Adjusted EBITDA decreased by $34.5 million, or 61%. Lower margins resulted in a 27% decrease due mainly to unfavorable net timing impacts, and lower sales volume resulted in a 27% decrease primarily as a result of weakness in the global tire market. In addition, higher fixed costs, due mainly to a lower level of fixed cost absorption, resulted in a 10% decrease.
Performance Plastics Segment
Our Performance Plastics segment consists of a variety of compounds and blends, our ABS, SAN, PC businesses, and our soft-touch polymers and bioplastics business, which includes thermoplastic elastomers (“TPEs”). We are a producer of highly engineered compounds and blends for automotive end markets, as well as consumer electronics, medical, electrical, lighting, building and construction, appliances, and footwear.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | Three Months Ended | | | | | Six Months Ended | | | | |
| | | June 30, | | | | | | June 30, | | | | | |
($ in millions) | | | 2019 | | | 2018 | | | % Change | | | 2019 | | | 2018 | | | % Change | | |
Net sales | | | $ | 347.5 | | | $ | 412.8 | | | (16) | % | | $ | 716.8 | | | $ | 815.6 | | | (12) | % | |
Adjusted EBITDA | | | $ | 34.2 | | | $ | 48.9 | | | (30) | % | | $ | 69.9 | | | $ | 114.3 | | | (39) | % | |
Adjusted EBITDA margin | | | | 10 | % | | | 12 | % | | | | | | 10 | % | | | 14 | % | | | | |
Three Months Ended – June 30, 2019 vs June 30, 2018
Of the 16% decrease in net sales, 12% was due to lower pricing from the pass through of lower styrene costs as well as lower PC prices due to lower industry operating rates. An additional 3% decrease was due to currency impacts as the euro weakened in comparison to the U.S. dollar during the period.
Adjusted EBITDA decreased by $14.7 million, or 30%. Lower margins, mainly related to ABS and PC, resulted in a $20.7 million, or 42% decrease in Adjusted EBITDA, due mainly to general market weakness as well as additional supply in the PC market. These impacts were partially offset by an increase of $6.0 million, or 12%, from lower fixed costs due to significant fixed cost under absorption in the prior year from a planned maintenance outage.
Six Months Ended – June 30, 2019 vs June 30, 2018
Of the 12% decrease in net sales, 12% was due to lower pricing from the pass through of lower styrene costs as well as lower PC prices due to lower industry operating rates. An additional 3% decrease was due to currency impacts as the euro weakened in comparison to the U.S. dollar during the period, which was offset by a 3% increase attributable to higher sales volume, mainly PC.
Adjusted EBITDA decreased by $44.4 million, or 39%. Lower margins, mainly related to ABS and PC, resulted in a $53.7 million, or 47%, decrease in Adjusted EBITDA, due primarily to general market weakness as well as additional supply in the PC market. These impacts were partially offset by higher sales volume, mainly in PC, which resulted in a $9.6 million, or 8% increase in Adjusted EBITDA.
Polystyrene Segment
Our product offerings in our Polystyrene segment include a variety of general purpose polystyrenes (“GPPS”) and polystyrene that has been modified with polybutadiene rubber to increase its impact resistant properties (“HIPS”). These products provide customers with performance and aesthetics at a low cost across applications, including appliances, packaging, including food packaging and food service disposables, consumer electronics, and building and construction materials.