Baton Rouge-based specialty chemical maker Albemarle saw its third quarter earnings fall to $65.4 million, or 58 cents per share, down from earnings of $72.8 million, or 93 cents per share, in the three-month period ending in September last year.
Aside from the third quarter report issued this morning, Albemarle also announced it has reached an agreement with Treibacher Industrie AG to sell its Tribotecc metal sulfides business to the Austria-based company. Financial terms of the deal, which pending closing conditions is expected to be finalized by the end of the year, are not being disclosed.
“This transaction furthers Albemarle’s strategic plan of focusing on our core bromine, lithium, catalysts and surface treatment businesses,” Albemarle President and CEO Luke Kissam says in a prepared statement.
Albemarle has positioned itself as a major player in the international market for lithium, the key ingredient in the lithium-ion battery—the most commercially dominant energy storage technology on the planet—with the acquisition of Rockwood Holdings Inc. in January for $5.7 billion. The deal to acquire Rockwood—one of the largest takeovers of a diversified chemicals company ever—was initially announced in July 2014 and was completed on Jan. 12.
In its third-quarter report, Albemarle says the Rockwood acquisition helped push net sales up to $905.1 million, up from $642.4 million during the quarter last year. The higher sales, however, were partially offset by “the impact of lower sales volumes and unfavorable currency exchange impacts,” the report reads.
“Albemarle’s core businesses continued to perform well in the third quarter,” Kissam says. “Through the first nine months of 2015, these businesses delivered 8% adjusted (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) growth and 30% margin rates on a constant currency basis.”
As of 10 a.m., Albemarle stock was trading for $49.57, down $4.65 or 8.6%, on the New York Stock Exchange.
While Albemarle is still headquartered in Baton Rouge, the company announced in August it will relocate its headquarters to Charlotte, North Carolina. Albemarle will maintain operations in Baton Rouge following the move—and an estimated 500 employees here—which is expected to take place next summer.
—Steve Sanoski
