ChemFirst Inc. Announces Second Quarter Earnings.Business Editors JACKSON, Miss.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 24, 2002 ChemFirst Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :CEM CEM contagious equine metritis. CEM selective medium chocolate agar made with Eugon agar and 5% horse blood; used to cultivate Taylorella equigenitalis. ) announces second quarter earnings of $3.9 million or 27 cents per share Cents per share The amount of a mutual fund's dividend or capital gains distributions that a shareholder will receive for each share owned. , compared to a loss of $16.9 million or $1.19 per share last year. Prior year results include after-tax operating losses operating loss The excess of operating expenses over revenue. As with operating income, operating losses exclude revenues and expenses from operations that are not considered a regular part of the business. Also called deficit. Compare operating income. and write-offs of $19.4 million or $1.37 per share related to the sale of the custom and fine chemicals business and a 5 cents per share gain on the sale of the company's interest in a captive insurance Captive insurance companies are limited purpose insurance companies established with the specific objective of financing risks emanating from their parent group or groups, they sometimes also insure risks of the parent company's customers. company. Prior year earnings excluding these special items were $1.8 million or 13 cents per share. The earnings improvement was due to better results in both electronic and polyurethane polyurethane Any of a class of very versatile polymers that are made into flexible and rigid foams, fibres, elastomers (elastic polymers), surface coatings, and adhesives. chemicals and lower interest expense. Sales were $75 million, about the same as last year excluding $14 million from fine chemicals. Earnings for the six months were $9.4 million or 65 cents per share versus a loss of $11.1 million or 79 cents per share last year. Prior year earnings excluding the special items mentioned above were $6.6 million or 47 cents per share. Reported earnings for the quarter and six months include after-tax business interruption insurance Noun 1. business interruption insurance - insurance that provides protection for the loss of profits and continuing fixed expenses resulting from a break in commercial activities due to the occurrence of a peril payments for the current year of $0.2 million and $2.2 million, respectively, and $2.2 million for the six months in the prior year. Sales for the six months were $137 million versus $149 million last year excluding $31 million from fine chemicals. Electronic and Other Specialty Chemicals A Specialty chemical is a chemical produced for a specialized use. They are produced in lower volume than bulk chemicals, of which petrochemicals, made from oil feedstocks, are the most common. However, both are produced in a chemical plant. pretax pre·tax adj. Existing before tax deductions: pretax income. pretax adj [profit] → vor (Abzug der) Steuern operating profits Operating profit (or loss) Revenue from a firm's regular activities less costs and expenses and before income deductions. operating profit See operating income. for the quarter were $2.3 million versus a loss of $0.1 million last year excluding fine chemicals. Current quarter results include pretax business interruption insurance payments of $0.4 million; no payments were received Q2 '01. Electronic chemicals profits improved on higher remover and DUV DUV Deep Ultraviolet DUV Data-Under-Voice DUV Design Under Verification resin resin, any of a class of amorphous solids or semisolids. Resins are found in nature and are chiefly of vegetable origin. They are typically light yellow to dark brown in color; tasteless; odorless or faintly aromatic; translucent or transparent; brittle, fracturing volumes. Demand from the Far East drove record remover sales. Other specialty chemicals profits were down primarily on lower margins compared to last year. Sales excluding fine chemicals were $33 million compared to $28 million last year. Profits for the six months were $7.8 million, up from $6.7 million excluding fine chemicals and including pretax business interruption insurance payments of $3.5 and $3.6 million, respectively. Polyurethane Chemicals pretax operating profits for the quarter were $8.6 million, up from $6.9 million same quarter last year. Profits for the six months were $14.9 million, up from $12 million. Results were up on higher unit margins, reflecting favorable fa·vor·a·ble adj. 1. Advantageous; helpful: favorable winds. 2. Encouraging; propitious: a favorable diagnosis. 3. energy and raw material cost pass-throughs and lower other expenses. Sales for the quarter and year were $42 million and $72 million respectively, compared to $47 million and $86 million last year. Dividend -- A quarterly cash dividend of 10 cents per share was declared payable June 21, 2002, to stockholders of record at the close of business June 6, 2002. Stock Repurchase Stock repurchase A firm's repurchase of outstanding shares of its common stock. -- There were no stock repurchases in the quarter. The company has repurchased 7.5 million shares at a cost of $165 million since beginning the program in 1997. The company has approximately $65 million remaining under the current repurchase re·pur·chase tr.v. re·pur·chased, re·pur·chas·ing, re·pur·chas·es To buy (something) again. n. The act of buying something that one previously sold or owned. Noun 1. authorization The right or permission to use a system resource; the process of granting access. See access control. . Outlook -- "Better results this quarter were mainly due to improvement in electronic chemicals, which were hurt by sharply declining industry Declining Industry An industry where growth is either negative or is not growing at the broader rate of economic growth. There are many reasons for a declining industry: consumer demand may be steadily evaporating, the depletion of a natural resource may be occurring, or there may fundamentals last year," said J. Kelley Williams, ChemFirst chairman and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. . "Increasing volumes reflect the impact of new business in Taiwan and the general semiconductor industry recovery in the Far East. Signs of recovery in other regions of the world are not yet consistent, but overall we expect continued improvement for this segment. We expect steady returns from polyurethanes polyurethanes (pŏl'ēy  r`əthānz), group of plastics that may be either thermosetting or thermoplastic. Polyurethane can be made into both flexible and rigid foams. which should continue to follow the construction and
automotive industries Automotive Industries, Ltd. (Hebrew: תעשיות רכב נצרת עלית, תע"ר ."Unaudited condensed con·dense v. con·densed, con·dens·ing, con·dens·es v.tr. 1. To reduce the volume or compass of. 2. To make more concise; abridge or shorten. 3. Physics a. financial information is attached. Please note the new time for the earnings conference call. A conference call for the investment community is scheduled for July 24, 2002 at 9:00 a.m. EDT EDT abbr. Eastern Daylight Time EDT Eastern Daylight Time EDT n abbr (US) (= Eastern Daylight Time) → hora de verano de Nueva York EDT . ChemFirst chairman and CEO, J. Kelley Williams will host the call. Interested investors may access the call by dialing 888-391-6741 (USA/Canada) or 712-257-0406 (International) and giving the pass code "Earnings". A taped replay of the call will be available through 5:00 p.m. eastern time July 28 and may be accessed by dialing 888-568-0702 (USA/Canada) or 402-998-1473 (International). The call will also be webcast in the Windows Media Microsoft's audio and video framework for Windows, which embraces playback, encoding and streaming. Windows Media Player is the digital jukebox and media player that comes with every version of Windows. format through the company's website www.chemfirst.com and several popular financial websites. DuPont will host an investor briefing on DuPont's acquisition of ChemFirst on Wednesday, July 24 at 12 Noon EDT via teleconference. Interested parties may call 1-973-582-2710 (no reservation is required) by 11:45 a.m. EDT to participate on the call. Media may participate in listen only mode. A separate media conference call for both DuPont second quarter financial results and the ChemFirst acquisition will be held at 12:45 p.m. EDT, by calling 1-973-633-1010 and asking for reservation #12440. ChemFirst CEO J. Kelley Williams and COO (Cell Of Origin) See mobile positioning. R. Michael Summerford will participate in these calls. This release includes forward-looking statements forward-looking statement A projected financial statement based on management expectations. A forward-looking statement involves risks with regard to the accuracy of assumptions underlying the projections. based on management assumptions and expectations. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. For additional information on risk factors that could affect actual results, please refer to the company's 2001 Form 10-K Form 10-K A report required by the SEC from exchange-listed companies that provides for annual disclosure of certain financial information. Form 10-K See 10-K. and most recent 10-Q's. ChemFirst is a global supplier of electronic chemicals and materials to the semiconductor industry and specialty intermediates for polyurethanes and other applications. Additional information about the company is available on the ChemFirst website located at http://www.chemfirst.com.
ChemFirst Inc. and Subsidiaries
Operating Results
(Unaudited. In Thousands, Except Per Share Amounts)
3 Months ended 6 Months ended
June 30 June 30
2002 2001 2002 2001
--------- ---------- ---------- ---------
Sales:
Electronic and Other
Specialty Chemicals $ 32,580 42,162 65,495 94,362
Polyurethane Chemicals 41,975 46,847 71,531 86,321
--------- ---------- ---------- ---------
$ 74,555 89,009 137,026 180,683
========= ========== ========== =========
Operating profit (loss):
Electronic and Other
Specialty Chemicals $ 2,321 (31,067) 7,835 (22,735)
Polyurethane Chemicals 8,561 6,909 14,901 12,023
--------- ---------- ---------- ---------
10,882 (24,158) 22,736 (10,712)
Unallocated corporate
expenses (4,668) (3,294) (7,912) (6,673)
Interest income
(expense), net (58) (725) 9 (1,514)
Other income
(expense), net (19) 1,106 14 1,067
--------- ---------- ---------- ---------
6,137 (27,071) 14,847 (17,832)
Income tax expense
(benefit) 2,271 (10,151) 5,493 (6,687)
--------- ---------- ---------- ---------
Net earnings (loss) $ 3,866 (16,920) 9,354 (11,145)
========= ========== ========== =========
Earnings (loss) per
common share: $ 0.27 (1.19) 0.66 (0.79)
========= ========== ========== =========
Average shares outstanding 14,136 14,172 14,098 14,164
Earnings (loss) per common
share, assuming dilution: $ 0.27 (1.19) 0.65 (0.79)
========= ========== ========== =========
Average shares outstanding 14,455 14,172 14,362 14,164
Cash dividend declared
per share $ 0.10 0.10 0.20 0.20
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
(Unaudited. In Thousands)
June 30 Dec. 31 June 30
2002 2001 2001
------------- ------------ -------------
Cash and cash equivalents $ 58,912 43,864 10,084
Other current assets 99,982 92,732 182,566
Other assets 163,938 165,848 166,223
------------- ------------ -------------
Total assets $ 322,832 302,444 358,873
============= ============ =============
Current liabilities $ 49,128 40,492 43,778
Long-term debt 4,889 4,755 50,622
Other liabilities 42,771 37,307 42,589
Stockholders' equity 226,044 219,890 221,884
------------- ------------ -------------
Total liabilities &
stockholders' equity $ 322,832 302,444 358,873
============= ============ =============
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(Unaudited. In Thousands)
6 Months ended
June 30
2002 2001
------------ -------------
Cash flows from operations:
Net earnings (loss) $ 9,354 (11,145)
Depreciation and amortization 9,707 14,537
Other (5,022) 2,609
------------ -------------
Net cash provided by
operating activities 14,039 6,001
------------ -------------
Cash flows from investing activities:
Capital expenditures (7,575) (9,807)
Other investing activities - 1,638
------------ -------------
Net cash used in
investing activities (7,575) (8,169)
------------ -------------
Cash flows from financing activities:
Net borrowings of notes payable 8,909 9,589
Other financing activities (302) (2,444)
------------ -------------
Net cash provided by
financing activities 8,607 7,145
------------ -------------
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash (23) (487)
------------ -------------
Net increase in cash
and cash equivalents $ 15,048 4,490
------------ -------------
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period $ 58,912 10,084
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