Air Products (NYSE: APD) has reported net income of $359 million and diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.65 for its fiscal third quarter ended June 30, 2015.
On a GAAP basis, net income and diluted EPS from continuing operations were $319 million and $1.47, respectively, for the quarter.
Third quarter sales of $2,470 million decreased six percent versus prior year, as underlying sales growth of four percent was offset by unfavourable currency and lower energy pass-through. Volumes increased three percent, primarily in Industrial Gases–Asia, Materials Technologies and the LNG business, and pricing was up one percent.
Operating income of $482 million increased 17 percent versus prior year, and operating margin of 19.5 percent improved 380 basis points, driven by cost performance, higher pricing and higher volumes. Adjusted EBITDA of $758 million increased nine percent over prior year, and EBITDA margin of 30.7 percent improved 430 basis points, reflecting strong operating leverage.
Seifi Ghasemi, chairman, president and chief executive officer, said “the Air Products team has delivered another quarter of great results, with particular strength in our regional Industrial Gases segments, while Materials Technologies continued to improve. We again showed strong improvement in safety, and despite significant currency headwinds and stagnant economic conditions around the globe, our earnings per share were up by 13 percent, EBITDA margins increased to more than 30 percent, and this quarter’s operating margin is the highest in more than 25 years. This significant improvement is a direct result of our people executing our five-point strategy. As a result, we have again increased our full year guidance to $6.50 – $6.60, which at midpoint is up 13% over last year.”
The company’s shares were up 4.8% during trading on Thursday following this stronger than expected earnings report. They traded as high as $144.00 and last traded at $140.57, with a volume of 2,060,961 shares. The stock had previously closed at $134.14.
The company reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.07. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. The business earned $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis.
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 1st will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 29th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.42%.
CEO Seifi Ghasemi purchased 20,000 shares of Air Products & Chemicals stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $145.68 per share, for a total transaction of $2,913,600.00.
The firm has a market capitalization of $30.28 billion and a PE ratio of 29.553. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $138.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $146.73.