Ethyl Corp. on Monday announced that it had net income of $37.1 million last year, an increase of more than 270 percent over 2002. The improvement was due both to the sale of its phenolic antioxidants business and improved sales.
Ethyl soldits phenolic antioxidant business in Jan. 2003 to Albemarle Corp., a deal that yielded a one-time infusion of $14.8 million. But even without that revenue, recurring income from continuing operations jumped from $13.3 million in 2002 to $29.3 million in 2003.
Total sales grew 15 percent to $756 million. Sales by the companys petroleum additives segment rose 15 percent to $747 million, pushing the segments operating profit up 13 percent to $59.4 million. Despite lower sales volumes, operating profit for the tetraethyl lead segment were up 78 percent from 2002, to $27.1 million, due to better prices and lower costs.
The Richmond, Va., additive supplier said it also reduced debt by $81 million during the year.
We are extremely pleased with the continuing improvement in earnings as well as our progress on debt reduction, President and Chief Executive Officer Thomas E. Teddy Gottwald said. He cautioned, though, that the company faces a difficult business environment in 2004. This environment is characterized by the factors we have discussed throughout 2003 – namely margin compression as raw material prices increase, continuing demand for new high performance products, and a highly competitive marketplace.