Avon Lake, Ohio-based PolyOne Corp. (POL), Wednesday announced first-quarter financial results, posting a loss compared to profit in the same quarter a year ago, hurt by one time charges as well as a sharp decline in sales that stemmed from a decline in volume.
The specialized polymer materials provider slipped to a first quarter loss of $9.3 million or $0.10 per share from a profit of $6.56 million or $0.07 per share in the same quarter a year ago.
On a comparable basis, excluding special items and the tax items, PolyOne's loss for the first quarter was $0.04 per share, compared to an income of $0.08 per share in the corresponding quarter a year ago.
On average, four analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected first-quarter loss of $0.03 per share. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items such as one-time charges or gains.
Operating loss for the first quarter was $2.7 million, compared to an operating income of $6.5 million in the same quarter a year ago.
First quarter results also included special items totaling $10.5 million of after tax expense as well as a tax gain from a favorable settlement of a foreign audit for $10.0 million.
Special items in the first quarter included a pre-tax adjustment of $5.0 million related to improving the company's preliminary estimate of goodwill impairment recorded for the fourth quarter of last year .First-quarter special items also included $10.1 million of pre-tax charges resulting from restructuring initiatives.
For the fourth quarter, consolidated gross margins before special items, however, improved from to 15.2% from 12.1% last year, despite the decline in volume and sales. This improvement resulted from higher sales mix, restructuring savings, lower raw material costs, and LIFO reserve adjustments.
Revenues for the first quarter plunged 35.1% to $463.4 million from $713.7 million in the same quarter a year ago, primarily hurt by a decline in global demand resulting from a 34% decline in volume.
POL is currently trading at $3.00, up $0.03 or 1.01% on the NYSE.
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