LyondellBasell Industries N.V. LYB posted profits of $314 million or 94 cents per share in second-quarter 2020, down from $1,003 million or $2.70 in the year-ago quarter.
Barring one-time items, adjusted earnings came in at 71 cents per share that beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 61 cents.
Revenues fell 38.7% year over year to $5,546 million in the reported quarter. The figure also trailed the consensus mark of $5,775.6 million.
Consolidated EBITDA fell 51.9% year over year to $760 million.
LyondellBasell Industries N.V. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
LyondellBasell Industries N.V. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | LyondellBasell Industries N.V. Quote
Segment Review
In the Olefins & Polyolefins — Americas division, EBITDA fell 60.9% year over year to $248 million. Polyolefin results dropped around $185 million due to lower margins, which was partly offset by a modest rise in polyethylene volume.
The Olefins & Polyolefins — Europe, Asia, International segment witnessed a fall in EBITDA of 44.1% year over year to $185 million. Margins declined due to lower ethylene prices, which was partly offset by lower feedstock costs. Volumes declined due to lower demand.
The Advanced Polymer Solutions (APS) segment posted a loss of $44 million compared with EBITDA of $120 million in the year-ago quarter. Compounding & Solutions results declined $85 million mainly due to lower automotive demand.
EBITDA in the Intermediates and Derivatives segment fell 77.5% on a year-over-year basis to $101 million.
EBITDA in the Refining segment came at $165 million in the reported quarter against a loss of $66 million in the year-ago quarter. Crude throughput fell 24,000 barrels per day due to unplanned maintenance and rate reduction in response to lower demand.
The Technology segment’s EBITDA fell to $112 million in the reported quarter, up 4.7% year over year. Lower licensing revenues were more than offset by higher catalyst volumes and margins.
Financials
As of Jun 30, LyondellBasell had cash and liquid investments of $3 billion.
In the second quarter, the company paid out dividends worth $350 million. It also had 334 million common shares outstanding as of Jun 30.
Outlook
LyondellBasell stated that demand for its products is improving with increased economic activity. In response to increased demand, the company raised operating rates and prices for North American polyethylene exports to Asia. The company expects Refining and Oxyfuels & Related Products businesses demand to improve with increased mobility and reductions in fuel inventories. Also, the Advanced Polymer Solutions unit is gaining from rebounding demand for its plastics used in automotive manufacturing.
Price Performance
Shares of LyondellBasell have lost 22% in the past year compared with the industry’s 5.6% decline.
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
LyondellBasell currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks in the basic materials space include Equinox Gold Corp. EQX, B2Gold Corp BTG and Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. NAK, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.
Equinox Gold has an expected earnings growth rate of 255.2% for 2020. The company’s shares have surged 94.3% in the past year.
B2Gold has an expected earnings growth rate of 257.1% for 2020. Its shares have returned 108.4% in the past year.
Northern Dynasty has an expected earnings growth rate of 35.7% for 2020. The company’s shares have gained 98.2% in the past year.
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