Commenting on the Company’s fourth quarter performance, Frank Bozich, President and Chief Executive Officer of Trinseo, said, “Our fourth quarter results reflect a challenging operating environment including a continuation of customer destocking, lower underlying demand, and volume and margin impacts from lower-cost imports into Europe from Asia. As a result, our earnings and cash generation were below our previous expectations. However, due to proactive operating decisions such as idling styrene production throughout the fourth quarter, we saw a considerable sequential Adjusted EBITDA improvement of more than $40 million. Further improvement in the first quarter is expected given seasonally stronger demand, lower energy prices and the realization of our asset restructuring initiatives.”
In connection with the Company’s annual goodwill impairment analysis performed in the fourth quarter, the Company expects to record a non-cash impairment charge of $297 million related to the PMMA business and Aristech Surfaces reporting units’ goodwill balances established in 2021. The impairment charges were attributed to a challenging macroeconomic environment, including significantly lower demand for building & construction and wellness applications, which led to lower operating results including slower growth projections as well as a prolonged drop in market capitalization. These impairment charges do not affect the Company’s cash position, and the Company remains encouraged about the businesses’ expected synergies and strategic value as we continue to evolve as a specialty material and sustainable solutions provider.
Bozich continued, “Despite the near-term challenges, we remain very optimistic about these businesses. Sales volume has been impacted by weak underlying demand and continued customer destocking. In addition, both volume and margins were pressured as elevated natural gas prices in Europe and low demand in China created an arbitrage window for lower-cost commodity products from Asia to be more heavily imported into Europe and North America. We view both of these as temporary circumstances which we believe will resolve themselves in the coming quarters.”
For a reconciliation of estimated fourth quarter and full year 2022 (unaudited) net loss from continuing operations to Adjusted EBITDA and cash provided by operating activities to Free Cash Flow for fourth quarter and full year 2022, see Notes 1 and 2 below, respectively.
Trinseo will host a conference call to discuss further details of its fourth quarter and full year 2022 financial results on Thursday, February 9, 2023, at 10 AM Eastern Time.
Commenting on results will be Frank Bozich, President and Chief Executive Officer, David Stasse, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, and Andy Myers, Director of Investor Relations. The conference call will include introductory comments followed by a question-and-answer session.
For those interested in asking questions during the Q&A, please register using the following link:
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For those interested in listening only, please register for the webcast using the following link:
After registering for the conference call, you will receive a confirmation email with a meeting invitation and information for entry. Registration is open through the live call, but it is advised you register in advance to ensure you are connected for the full call.
Trinseo will distribute its fourth quarter 2022 financial results via press release on Business Wire and post the release and presentation slides on the Company’s Investor Relations website on Wednesday, February 8, 2023, after market close. The Company will furnish copies of the financial results press release and presentation slides to investors by means of a Form 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
A replay of the conference call and transcript will be archived on the Company’s Investor Relations website shortly following the conference call. The replay will be available until February 9, 2024.
Unaudited financial data for the fiscal quarter and year ended December 31, 2022, presented herein are preliminary, based upon our good faith estimates and subject to completion of our financial closing procedures. We have provided ranges for certain of our expectations described herein because our fiscal quarter and year-end closing procedures are not yet complete. While we expect that our final financial results for the quarterly and annual periods ended December 31, 2022, following the completion of our financial closing procedures, will be within the ranges described herein, our actual results may differ materially from these estimates as a result of the completion of our financial closing procedures as well as final adjustments and other developments that may arise between now and the time that our financial results for these quarterly and annual periods are finalized. All the data presented herein has been prepared by and is the responsibility of management. This summary is not a comprehensive statement of our financial results for the quarterly and annual periods.
Note 1: Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Performance Measures to Net income
We present Adjusted EBITDA as a non-GAAP financial performance measure, which we define as income from continuing operations before interest expense, net; income tax provision; depreciation and amortization expense; loss on extinguishment of long-