Positive 2017 results are leading executives with materials maker Trinseo SA to increase guidance for 2018.
Berwyn, Pa.-based Trinseo saw its 2017 sales jump almost 20 percent to more than $4.4 billion, as annual profit grew 3 percent to $328 million. The firm now anticipates full-year 2018 profit of between $369 million and $386 million and adjusted earnings per share of $8.26 to $8.63, officials said in a Feb. 19 news release.
President and CEO Chris Pappas said in the release that Trinseo was increasing guidance because of strong business fundamentals and because it expects a favorable impact from unplanned styrene outages in the first quarter. The firm also expects continued strong cash generation during 2018, he added.
Full-year sales in Trinseo's Basic Plastics unit were up almost 15 percent to more than $1.5 billion. Performance Plastics saw sales grow 14 percent to $808 million. Adjusted EBITDA for Basic Plastics grew more than 5 percent to almost $157 million for the year, but fell more than 10 percent to $122 million for Performance Plastics.
Basic Plastics includes compounds, blends and automotive grades of ABS resin. Performance Plastics includes polycarbonate resin and ABS and SAN copolymers.
Based on sales, Basic Plastics was the largest of Trinseo's five operating units in 2017, generating almost 35 percent of total sales. Performance Plastics came in third with just over 18 percent of sales.
Trinseo doesn't split out sales for Americas Styrenics — its 50-50 polystyrene/styrene JV with Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. — but it did report that adjusted EBITDA for that business was down almost 10 percent to just under $123 million in 2017.
Trinseo's major move in 2017 was its acquisition in June of Italian materials firm API SpA. API makes a range of soft-touch plastics, including thermoplastic polyurethanes.
On Wall Street, Trinseo's per-share stock price began 2017 around $65 but ended near $82.50 for an increase of almost 27 percent. The price closed at $83.20 on Feb. 26.
