Rockwood Q3 Profit Surges On One-time Gain - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Rockwood Holdings, Inc. (ROC) reported that its third quarter of 2013 net income attributable to shareholders surged to $1.112 billion or $14.65 per share from $59.6 million or $0.75 per share for the same period in the prior year.

The latest-quarter result included other net benefits of $1.064 billion, primarily related to the gain on sale of the Advanced Ceramics business.

The prior year quarter result included other net charges of $13.7 million.

Excluding these other net benefits and charges, adjusted net income was $48.2 million, or $0.63 per share, in the third quarter of 2013 compared to $73.3 million, or $0.92 per share, for the same period in the prior year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.50 per share. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Income from continuing operations for the quarter declined to $8.4 million from $28.8 million last year.

Net sales for the quarter increased to $345.8 million from last year's $320.9 million.

Seifi Ghasemi, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer said, "We expect our two core businesses, Lithium applications and Surface Treatment, to continue their strong growth in the fourth quarter of 2013, in line with their performance year to date.

In 2014, the company expects its lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide (the upstream lithium business) sales to continue their double digit growth. It is on schedule to complete the construction and qualification of its new state-of-the-art lithium carbonate facility in Chile by the end of 2014, nearly doubling its total capacity to meet the fast-growing demand needs of its customers. In Surface Treatment, the company expects high single-digit top line growth and continued strong margins of 22% - 23%.

Ghasemi added, "As a result of the successful execution of our strategy, Rockwood now has a very solid balance sheet with expected cash on hand of approximately $2.5 billion. We are committed to deploy our cash to expand and strengthen our core businesses, maintain our dividend and buy back shares as and when appropriate."