EXHIBIT 99.1
News
For Immediate Release | Contact: |
November 1, 2012 | Rick Honey |
| (212) 878-1831 |
MINERALS TECHNOLOGIES REPORTS THIRD QUARTER
EARNINGS PER SHARE OF $1.05, AN 11-PERCENT INCREASE OVER PRIOR YEAR, EXCLUDING SPECIAL ITEMS
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Fourth Consecutive Quarter of Earnings Higher Than $1 per Share
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Operating Income Increased 9-Percent over Prior Year
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Highlights:
· | Nine Months earnings of $3.17 per share, 21% above last year |
· | Record Specialty Minerals Segment profit |
· | Continued strong operating performance from Processed Minerals |
· | New 100,000-ton satellite PCC plant to be built in China |
· | Four recent Fulfill™ E-325 commercial agreements |
NEW YORK, November 1— Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE: MTX) today reported third quarter diluted earnings per common share of $1.05 compared with $0.95 per share in the same period of 2011, excluding special items, an 11-percent increase. Reported earnings per share for the third quarter of 2011 were $0.87. Earnings per share for the nine months were $3.17, a company record.
Income from operations increased 9-percent over the same period last year to $27.8 million from $25.6 million, excluding special items. The improvement in operating income occurred in the Specialty Minerals Segment and was attributable to increased pricing, higher productivity, lower energy costs and expense control. The company also generated $40.0 million in cash flow from operations, and return on capital was 8.8 percent, an increase of 6 percent from the same quarter in 2011.
"We continued our solid financial performance in the third quarter, and marked our fourth consecutive quarter with earnings higher than $1 per share," said chairman and chief executive officer Joseph C. Muscari. "More importantly, our two major growth initiatives—geographic expansion and new product development—continued to gain momentum. We signed a contract to build a 100,000-ton satellite precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) facility in China at a paper mill owned by Shandong Sun Paper Industry Joint Stock Co. Ltd., and four paper mills around the world have recently agreed to adopt our Fulfill™ E-325 technology to increase PCC fill rates to reduce the use of more expensive fiber. In addition, we launched a new, faster laser measurement system for the global steel industry."
Third quarter worldwide sales decreased 5 percent to $250.3 million from $262.2 million in the prior year primarily due to foreign exchange, which had an unfavorable impact on sales of approximately $11.6 million. Sales were also affected by weakening market conditions in Europe, including the permanent and temporary shutdowns of two European satellite PCC facilities in the fourth quarter of 2011and several steel mill closures. This was partially offset by increased sales from new satellite PCC facilities in North America and India and other volume increases. Despite the decrease in sales, the company achieved higher earnings and operating income.
Third quarter worldwide sales for the Specialty Minerals segment, which includes the PCC and Processed Minerals product lines, decreased 3 percent to $165.6 million from $171.1 million in the same quarter of 2011. Foreign exchange had an unfavorable impact on sales of approximately $7.4 million or 4 percentage points. Income from operations increased 17 percent to $22.6 million from $19.3 million in the same period in 2011. The growth in operating income was due to significant margin improvement in our GCC and Talc product lines, within Processed Minerals, and to higher profits in our North American and Latin American regions in Paper PCC.
Worldwide sales of PCC, used primarily in the manufacturing processes of the paper industry, decreased 4 percent to $137.0 million from $142.5 million in the third quarter of 2011. Foreign exchange had an unfavorable impact on sales of 5 percentage points. Processed Minerals products third quarter sales were flat at $28.6 million year-over-year, while Talc sales grew 5 percent. Processed Minerals products serve the residential and commercial construction as well as automotive markets.
During the quarter, the company signed an agreement with Shandong Sun Paper Industry Joint Stock Co. Ltd. for the construction of a 100,000-ton satellite PCC plant at a Sun Paper's paper mill in Yanzhou City, Shandong Province, China. The satellite facility, which will become operational in the first quarter of 2014, will produce OPACARB® A40, a coating-grade PCC, for Sun Paper's lightweight coated, coated fine paper and coated paperboard grades. During the third quarter, the company also signed commercial agreements with four paper mills to deploy its FulFill™ higher-filler technology. These agreements, announced in July and August, include two with subsidiaries of the Mondi Group in Slovakia and South Africa, one in Thailand with Double A Paper, and one in Europe with a paper company that wishes to remain unnamed for competitive reasons. The Fulfill™ brand of high-filler technologies offers papermakers decreased dependency on more expensive natural fiber. FulFill™ E-325 allows papermakers to increase loading levels of PCC by three to five points, and increases PCC usage between 20 to 30 percent.
"We now have 10 paper mills around the world that are deploying our FulFill™ E-325 technology. The continued adoption of FulFill™ by the global paper industry adds to the growing momentum of this new technology, and substantiates both the efficacy of the cost-savings it generates and the revitalization of our new product development pipeline," said Mr. Muscari. "In addition, we are actively engaged with 25 other paper mills interested in our FulFill™ portfolio of technologies."
Refractories segment sales in the third quarter of 2012 decreased 7 percent to $84.7 million from $91.1 million recorded in the same period in 2011. Foreign exchange accounted for about 5 percentage points of this decrease. Refractory Products sales declined 7 percent to $66.0 million from $71.1 million in the prior year. The sales decline was primarily due to lower volumes, fewer equipment sales, the effects of foreign exchange and to lower sales to non-steel applications. Metallurgical products sales decreased 7 percent to $18.7 million from $20.0 million recorded in the prior year. The Refractory segment, whose products are used primarily in the steel market, recorded operating income of $7.2 million, a 6-percent decrease from the $7.7 million, excluding special items, in the third quarter of 2011.
During the third quarter, the company also introduced a new, fourth generation Lacam® laser measurement system for use in the worldwide steel industry that is 17 times faster than the previous version. This new technology provides the fastest and most accurate laser scanning for hot surfaces available today. The LaCam® Laser measurement system provides non-contact measurement of refractory linings under high-heat conditions in metallurgical reaction and transport vessels such as basic oxygen converters, ladles and electric arc furnaces in the worldwide steel industry.
"We have been able to achieve strong financial performance despite weak market conditions, particularly in Europe," said Mr. Muscari. "The company is producing consistent income, strong cash flow and improved operational efficiencies, but more importantly for the longer term, our growth initiatives are gaining momentum in spite of the sluggish global economic environment. We will continue to build upon this strong performance that will provide us with additional opportunities for future growth and improved shareholder value."
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Minerals Technologies has scheduled an analyst conference call for Friday, November 2, 2012 at 11:00 a.m. to discuss operating results for the third quarter. The conference call will be broadcast over the company's website, www.mineralstech.com.
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This press release may contain forward-looking statements, which describe or are based on current expectations; in particular, statements of anticipated changes in the business environment in which the company operates and in the company's future operating results. Actual results may differ materially from these expectations. In addition, any statements that are not historical fact (including statements containing the words "believes," "plans," "anticipates," "expects," "estimates," and similar expressions) should also be considered to be forward-looking statements. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Forward-looking statements in this document should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect our businesses, particularly those mentioned in the risk factors and other cautionary statements in our 2011 Annual Report on Form 10-K and in our other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS |
MINERALS TECHNOLOGIES INC. AND SUBSIDIARY COMPANIES |
(in thousands, except per share data) |
(unaudited) |
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| | Quarter Ended | | | % Growth | | | Nine Months Ended | | | % Growth | |
| | Sept. 30, | | | July 1, | | | Oct. 2, | | | | | | | | | Sept. 30, | | | Oct. 2, | | | | |
| | 2012 | | | 2012 | | | 2011 | | | Prior Qtr. | | | Prior Year | | | 2012 | | | 2011 | | | Prior Year | |
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Net sales | | $ | 250,346 | | | $ | 253,969 | | | $ | 262,192 | | | | (1 | )% | | | (5 | )% | | $ | 761,453 | | | $ | 793,111 | | | | (4 | )% |
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Cost of goods sold | | | 195,347 | | | | 197,627 | | | | 209,282 | | | | (1 | )% | | | (7 | )% | | | 595,175 | | | | 633,585 | | | | (6 | )% |
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Production margin | | | 54,999 | | | | 56,342 | | | | 52,910 | | | | (2 | )% | | | 4 | % | | | 166,278 | | | | 159,526 | | | | 4 | % |
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Marketing and administrative expenses | | | 22,046 | | | | 21,840 | | | | 22,553 | | | | 1 | % | | | (2 | )% | | | 66,784 | | | | 69,392 | | | | (4 | )% |
Research and development expenses | | | 5,105 | | | | 5,026 | | | | 4,723 | | | | 2 | % | | | 8 | % | | | 15,178 | | | | 14,489 | | | | 5 | % |
Restructuring and other charges | | | 0 | | | | 0 | | | | 240 | | | | * | | | | (100 | )% | | | 0 | | | | 470 | | | | (100 | )% |
Income from operations | | | 27,848 | | | | 29,476 | | | | 25,394 | | | | (6 | )% | | | 10 | % | | | 84,316 | | | | 75,175 | | | | 12 | % |
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Non-operating deductions - net | | | (650 | ) | | | (768 | ) | | | (1,663 | ) | | | (15 | )% | | | (61 | )% | | | (2,016 | ) | | | (3,299 | ) | | | (39 | )% |
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Income from continuing operations, before tax | | | 27,198 | | | | 28,708 | | | | 23,731 | | | | (5 | )% | | | 15 | % | | | 82,300 | | | | 71,876 | | | | 15 | % |
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Provision for taxes on income | | | 8,015 | | | | 8,469 | | | | 7,387 | | | | (5 | )% | | | 9 | % | | | 24,270 | | | | 21,686 | | | | 12 | % |
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Consolidated net income | | | 19,183 | | | | 20,239 | | | | 16,344 | | | | (5 | )% | | | 17 | % | | | 58,030 | | | | 50,190 | | | | 16 | % |
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Less: Net income attributable to non-controlling interests | | | 553 | | | | 524 | | | | 656 | | | | 6 | % | | | (16 | )% | | | 1,653 | | | | 2,308 | | | | (28 | )% |
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Net Income attributable to Minerals Technologies Inc. (MTI) | | $ | 18,630 | | | $ | 19,715 | | | $ | 15,688 | | | | (6 | )% | | | 19 | % | | $ | 56,377 | | | $ | 47,882 | | | | 18 | % |
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Weighted average number of common shares outstanding: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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Basic | | | 17,640 | | | | 17,724 | | | | 17,928 | | | | | | | | | | | | 17,694 | | | | 18,128 | | | | | |
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Diluted | | | 17,733 | | | | 17,790 | | | | 18,019 | | | | | | | | | | | | 17,775 | | | | 18,242 | | | | | |
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Earnings per share attributable to MTI: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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Basic: | | $ | 1.06 | | | $ | 1.11 | | | $ | 0.88 | | | | (5 | )% | | | 20 | % | | $ | 3.19 | | | $ | 2.64 | | | | 21 | % |
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Diluted: | | $ | 1.05 | | | | 1.11 | | | | 0.87 | | | | (5 | )% | | | 21 | % | | | 3.17 | | | | 2.62 | | | | 21 | % |
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Cash dividends declared per common share | | $ | 0.05 | | | $ | 0.05 | | | $ | 0.05 | | | | | | | | | | | $ | 0.15 | | | $ | 0.15 | | | | | |
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* Percentage not meaningful | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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