PolyOne Corp. updates second quarter sales outlook
Global provider of specialized polymer materials PolyOne Corp. (NYSE: POL) announced that it expects to see second quarter sales rebound sequentially by 4% to 6% over the first quarter of 2007.
For the second quarter, which ends this month, the Cleveland, Ohio, company said despite weakness in construction-related and automotive end markets, it expects sales will be flat to slightly up compared with the second quarter of 2006.
PolyOne said income performance from its vinyl chain business segments is projected to be weak as a result of poor demand in construction-related end markets and escalating raw materials.
Although second quarter sales for PolyOne’s vinyl business segment are forecasted to increase sequentially, significant raw material cost increases are anticipated to materially decrease segment earnings results compared with the first quarter of 2007.
While PolyOne expects to see weakness in its vinyl business segment, the company said it anticipates strong year-over-year sales and earnings increases for its international color and engineered materials segment, with double-digit growth in both Europe and Asia.
Additionally, the company said it expects to realize modest sequential and year-over-year second-quarter gross margin improvement in its operating businesses, excluding the vinyl business segment.
The EPS consensus of five analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial for the current quarter, which ends this month, is $0.15 per share, compared with $0.29 per share for the same quarter last year. The EPS consensus for the fiscal year 2007 is $0.45 per share, and $0.61 per share for fiscal year 2008.
PolyOne said it will officially release second quarter earnings on August 7 and will host a conference call at 9:00 a.m. ET on August 8.
Shares of PolyOne climbed 1.96%, or $0.14 to $7.30 in mid-morning trading Friday.
