Kraton Corporation (KRA) saw its loss narrow to $3.74 million, or $0.12 a share for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2016. In the previous year period, the company reported a loss of $3.96 million, or $0.13 a share. On an adjusted basis, earnings per share were at $0.29 for the quarter compared with $0.74 in the same period last year.
Revenue during the quarter surged 67.31 percent to $415.39 million from $248.28 million in the previous year period. Gross margin for the quarter expanded 149 basis points over the previous year period to 28.42 percent. Total expenses were 91.47 percent of quarterly revenues, down from 98.34 percent for the same period last year. This has led to an improvement of 687 basis points in operating margin to 8.53 percent.
Operating income for the quarter was $35.42 million, compared with $4.11 million in the previous year period.
However, the adjusted EBITDA for the quarter stood at $77.22 million compared with $50.04 million in the prior year period. At the same time, adjusted EBITDA margin contracted 157 basis points in the quarter to 18.59 percent from 20.16 percent in the last year period.
"With the acquisition of Arizona Chemical in early January, 2016 was truly a transformational year for Kraton. We more than doubled our Adjusted EBITDA in 2016, leveraging Kraton’s solid market positions and a global reach that is second to none, while flawlessly executing on synergy capture and cost reset initiatives, and exceeding our planned cost reductions on both fronts. As a result, despite headwinds in certain of our markets, Kraton generated an Adjusted EBITDA margin of more than 20%, Adjusted EPS increased 17% to $2.36 per diluted share, and we met our year one debt reduction target. We achieved another important milestone in 2016, specifically the fourth quarter completion and startup of our HSBC plant in Mailiao, Taiwan, a project that was delivered significantly below our initial cost estimate. Exceptional progress was made on strategically important capital projects in Brazil and France, which are key toward achieving our cost reset initiatives. I remain highly confident that we will achieve, at a minimum, $135 million of aggregate cost reductions associated with our cost reset and synergy capture initiatives by year end 2018," said Kevin M. Fogarty, Kraton’s president and chief executive officer.
Operating cash flow improves significantlyKraton Corporation has generated cash of $138.47 million from operating activities during the year, up 33.34 percent or $34.62 million, when compared with the last year. The company has spent $1,364.76 million cash to meet investing activities during the year as against cash outgo of $128.74 million in the last year.
Cash flow from financing activities was $1,280.14 million for the year, up 2,616.12 percent or $1,233 million, when compared with the last year.
Cash and cash equivalents stood at $121.75 million as on Dec. 31, 2016, up 73.81 percent or $51.70 million from $70.05 million on Dec. 31, 2015.
Debt increases substantiallyKraton Corporation has witnessed an increase in total debt over the last one year. It stood at $1,739.52 million as on Dec. 31, 2016, up 318.42 percent or $1,323.79 million from $415.73 million on Dec. 31, 2015. Total debt was 59.85 percent of total assets as on Dec. 31, 2016, compared with 38.05 percent on Dec. 31, 2015. Debt to equity ratio was at 3.55 as on Dec. 31, 2016, up from 1.06 as on Dec. 31, 2015. Disclaimer: Please note that this is an auto-generated article. IRIS does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information. IRIS especially states that it has no financial liability whatsoever to any user on account of the use of information provided on its website. For queries contact: editor@irisindia.net
