In its final fiscal year as an independent company, materials distributor Nexeo Solutions Inc. saw its plastic resin sales grow almost 8 percent.
Plastics sales for the year ended Sept. 30 totaled $1.98 billion, representing more than 49 percent of total sales for Nexeo, which is based in The Woodlands, Texas. The firm's overall sales grew almost 11 percent to just over $4.03 billion, as profit more than doubled to $29.4 million. Most of the remainder of Nexeo's sales came from chemicals distribution.
Chemicals distributor Univar Inc. of Downers Grove, Ill., in October announced plans to acquire Nexeo for $1.8 billion. Univar is considering selling off the Nexeo plastics unit after the deal closes in the first half of 2019, since it does most of its business in chemicals.
At Nexeo, gross profit for plastics in fiscal 2018 was up 11 percent to $186.4 million. Nexeo officials said in a Dec. 5 news release that a slight decline in plastics sales for the fourth quarter was the result of a drop of more than 12 percent in sales volume. They added the volume drop occurred as the firm shed low-margin business in North America and the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.
President and CEO David Bradley said in the release that Nexeo achieved record levels of profitability in fiscal 2018. "We have once again demonstrated the power of our business model … to deliver differential results," he added.
Nexeo had been publicly traded since June 2016. The firm was formed in 2011 when investment firm TPG Capital paid almost $1 billion for the distribution business of Ashland Inc.