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Income from Olefins segment up, Westlake Chemical
03 May '11
5 min read
“As part of our integration strategy, we recently announced a program to expand our ethylene capacity by debottlenecking our ethylene units and increasing our use of ethane at Lake Charles. We are also evaluating expansion options and the potential upgrade of our ethylene production facilities at Calvert City, Kentucky in order to capitalize on new low cost ethane and other 'light' feedstocks being developed in North America. We will continue to explore opportunities to expand our production base and enhance the quality of our assets."
EBITDA (earnings before interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization) of $174.4 million for the first quarter of 2011 increased $106.8 million compared to EBITDA of $67.6 million for the first quarter of 2010. EBITDA for the first quarter of 2011 increased $2.0 million over the $172.4 million reported in the fourth quarter of 2010. A reconciliation of EBITDA to reported net income and to net cash provided by (used for) operating activities can be found in the financial schedules at the end of this press release.
Net cash provided by operating activities was $40.7 million in the first quarter of 2011. Capital expenditures for the first quarter of 2011 were $28.8 million. At March 31, 2011, we had $793.7 million of cash including $139.2 million of restricted cash, and our long-term debt was $764.5 million. The restricted cash is designated for qualifying amounts spent for capital additions in Louisiana.
Olefins Segment
Income from operations for the Olefins segment was $145.3 million in the first quarter of 2011, an increase of $87.1 million compared to the $58.2 million reported in the first quarter of 2010. This increase was mainly attributable to improved Olefins segment integrated product margins, which benefited from an increase in product prices, higher styrene sales volume, lower ethane costs and higher operating rates when compared to the prior year period. The first quarter of 2010 was negatively impacted by the unscheduled outage at one of our ethylene units in Lake Charles.
Income from operations for the first quarter of 2011 for the Olefins segment was $145.3 million, a decrease of $9.2 million from the $154.5 million reported in the fourth quarter of 2010. This decrease was primarily due to higher operating costs resulting from the reduction in ethylene operating rates in Lake Charles due to the February 2011 fire at a third party storage facility in Mont Belvieu.
Vinyls Segment
The Vinyls segment incurred a loss from operations of $2.8 million in the first quarter of 2011 compared to a loss from operations of $14.9 million in the first quarter of 2010, an improvement of $12.1 million. This improvement was primarily due to higher caustic and PVC resin margins and higher PVC resin sales volume as compared to the prior year period. PVC resin sales volume benefited from a strong export market in the first quarter of 2011. The improvement was partially offset by higher propane costs.
EBITDA (earnings before interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization) of $174.4 million for the first quarter of 2011 increased $106.8 million compared to EBITDA of $67.6 million for the first quarter of 2010. EBITDA for the first quarter of 2011 increased $2.0 million over the $172.4 million reported in the fourth quarter of 2010. A reconciliation of EBITDA to reported net income and to net cash provided by (used for) operating activities can be found in the financial schedules at the end of this press release.
Net cash provided by operating activities was $40.7 million in the first quarter of 2011. Capital expenditures for the first quarter of 2011 were $28.8 million. At March 31, 2011, we had $793.7 million of cash including $139.2 million of restricted cash, and our long-term debt was $764.5 million. The restricted cash is designated for qualifying amounts spent for capital additions in Louisiana.
Olefins Segment
Income from operations for the Olefins segment was $145.3 million in the first quarter of 2011, an increase of $87.1 million compared to the $58.2 million reported in the first quarter of 2010. This increase was mainly attributable to improved Olefins segment integrated product margins, which benefited from an increase in product prices, higher styrene sales volume, lower ethane costs and higher operating rates when compared to the prior year period. The first quarter of 2010 was negatively impacted by the unscheduled outage at one of our ethylene units in Lake Charles.
Income from operations for the first quarter of 2011 for the Olefins segment was $145.3 million, a decrease of $9.2 million from the $154.5 million reported in the fourth quarter of 2010. This decrease was primarily due to higher operating costs resulting from the reduction in ethylene operating rates in Lake Charles due to the February 2011 fire at a third party storage facility in Mont Belvieu.
Vinyls Segment
The Vinyls segment incurred a loss from operations of $2.8 million in the first quarter of 2011 compared to a loss from operations of $14.9 million in the first quarter of 2010, an improvement of $12.1 million. This improvement was primarily due to higher caustic and PVC resin margins and higher PVC resin sales volume as compared to the prior year period. PVC resin sales volume benefited from a strong export market in the first quarter of 2011. The improvement was partially offset by higher propane costs.
Westlake Chemical Corporation
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