Commenting on the first quarter results, Patrick S. Williams, President and Chief Executive Officer, said,
This was a very strong start to the year for Innospec. Good performance in all our businesses drove a 23 percent increase in operating income
with margin expansion.
Performance Chemicals operating income more than doubled over the prior year on higher sales and improved gross margins and
delivered our target for sequential operating income growth. While customers remain disciplined in their order patterns, we are cautiously optimistic that we can maintain this improvement in 2024. In addition, our recent acquisition of QGP Quimica
Geral S.A. is performing in line with expectations and was immediately accretive.
In Fuel Specialties, gross margins were within our targeted 32 to
35 percent range and operating margins continued to improve over the prior year. We have an exciting and diverse set of geographic and end-market opportunities in both fuel and non-fuel applications which we expect will provide a foundation for continued growth.
Oilfield Services delivered
operating income growth and margin expansion compared to the prior year as softer results in production chemicals were more than offset by improvements in other segments. In the short-term we expect production chemicals activity to remain below
previous quarters and will continue to pursue further sales growth and margin improvement in our other oilfield segments.
Revenues in Performance
Chemicals of $160.8 million were up 6 percent over the first quarter of last year with acquisition growth of 6 percent, volume growth of 13 percent and a positive currency impact of 1 percent offset by an adverse price/mix
of 14 percent. Gross margins of 23.4 percent increased by 7.5 percentage points from the same quarter last year. Operating income of $21.1 million approximately doubled over the corresponding prior year period.
Revenues in Fuel Specialties of $176.9 million were down 7 percent from $190.3 million in the first quarter of last year. An adverse price/mix
of 6 percent and a 2 percent reduction in volumes were partially offset by a positive currency impact of 1 percent. Gross margins of 34.3 percent increased by 4.1 percentage points over last year. Operating income of
$33.4 million was up 3 percent from $32.4 million a year ago. Adjusting for the $7.4 million inventory write-off in Brazil in the first quarter of 2023, gross margins were 34.1 percent
and operating income was $39.8 million.
Revenues in Oilfield Services of $162.5 million for the quarter were down 3 percent from
$167.9 million in the first quarter of last year. Gross margins of 35.3 percent decreased by 4.2 percentage points from the same quarter last year on a weaker sales mix. Operating income of $16.9 million increased 6 percent from
$15.9 million in the prior year period.
Corporate costs for the quarter were $20.2 million, compared with $17.7 million a year ago.
The effective tax rate for the quarter was 25.1 percent compared to 26.2 percent in the same period last year.
For the quarter, net cash provided by operating activities was $80.6 million compared to $21.8 million a year ago. As of March 31, 2024,
Innospec had $270.1 million in cash and cash equivalents and no debt.
Mr. Williams concluded,
I am very pleased with the strong performance that all our businesses delivered in the quarter including our new acquisition. We have a broad set of
technology-based organic opportunities across the businesses which we expect will continue to advance driving further growth and margin improvement.
Cash
generation was again excellent this quarter, and our net cash position strengthened to over $270 million. We continue to have significant flexibility and balance sheet strength for potential further M&A, dividend growth, buybacks and
organic investment. This quarter our Board approved a further 10 percent increase in our semi-annual dividend to 76 cents per share continuing our record of returning value to shareholders.
Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
The information presented in this press release includes financial measures that are not calculated or presented in accordance with Generally Accepted
Accounting Principles in the United States (GAAP). These non-GAAP financial measures comprise adjusted EBITDA, income before income taxes excluding special items, net income excluding