North American compounding leader PolyOne Corp. posted record adjusted earnings per share in 2014, even as the firm's sales saw modest growth and its overall profit declined.
Full-year sales at Avon Lake, Ohio-based PolyOne grew 2 percent to more than $3.8 billion, while adjusted EPS grew almost 40 percent to $1.80 — the highest level in the firm's 15-year history.
Profit, however, tumbled almost 70 percent to just over $78 million. But 2013 profit was boosted by gains on sales of businesses. PolyOne's profit from continuing operations saw a smaller decline of 17 percent in 2014. Annual operating income also grew at all five of the firm's business units.
“2014 was yet another great year in our company's history, underpinned by our unwavering commitment to our four pillar strategy and achieving our aggressive goals,” President and CEO Robert Patterson said in a Jan. 27 news release.
He added that innovation and mix improvement “continue to be at the heart of our specialty transformation, as 44 percent of our specialty platform sales were from products introduced in the last five years.”
PolyOne's performance products and solutions unit — including PVC compounds — led the way in 2014 with sales growth of almost 6 percent. The firm's distribution unit saw sales growth of almost 4 percent, while designed structures and solutions — including plastic sheet — registered an annual sales increase of more than 3 percent.
Annual sales for PolyOne's global color, additives and inks unit essentially were flat. Global specialty engineered materials sales fell almost 3 percent in 2014.