Univar Inc. logged a profit (on a reported basis) of $27 million or 19 cents per share in fourth-quarter 2017 as against a loss of $59.2 million or 43 cents a year ago.

 

Barring one-time items, earnings came in at 34 cents per share in the quarter, topping the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 26 cents.

 

The chemical maker’s revenues rose 8.1% year over year to $1,959.2 million in the quarter, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1,849 million.

 

Gross profit rose around 7.6% year over year to $444.9 million in the quarter with gains witnessed across all segments. Adjusted EBITDA margin increased 20 basis points to 7.6%.

 

 

For full-year 2017, the company posted profits of $119.8 billion, or 85 cents per share, against a loss of $68.4 million, or 50 cents per share, reported in 2016. Adjusted earnings for the year came in at $1.39 per share, up 35% from $1.03 reported a year ago. 

 

Univar reported revenues of around $8.3 billion in 2017, up around 2.5% from $8.1 billion reported in 2016. 

 

 

 

Revenues from the USA division increased 4.2% year over year to $1.1 billion in the reported quarter. Gross profit rose 5.7% year over year to $260.2 million.

 

Revenues from the Canada segment went up around 12.3% to $271.9 million. Gross profit rose roughly 5.4% to $58.1 million in the quarter.

 

The EMEA segment raked in sales of $460.9 million, up 16.9%. Gross profit rose around 13.7% to $104.6 million.

 

Sales from the Rest of World unit rose 5% to $96.3 million. Gross profit grew 9.5% year over year to $22 million.

 

 

Univar ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $467 million, up around 38.8% year over year. Long-term debt was $2,820 million, down around 0.9% year over year.

 

 

For full-year 2018, Univar sees adjusted EBITDA growth of low-double digits and revenue growth of mid-single digit. For 2018, adjusted earnings have been forecast to be in the range of $1.60-$1.80 per share. Adjusted EBITDA for first-quarter 2018 is forecast to grow around 10%.

 

 

Univar has significantly outperformed the industry over the last three months. The company’s shares have moved up 7.4% over this period as against the industry’s gain of 1.3%.

 

 

 

 

 

Univar carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

 

Some other top-ranked companies in the basic materials space are Olympic Steel, Inc. (ZEUS Quick QuoteZEUS - Free Report) , Methanex Corporation (MEOH Quick QuoteMEOH - Free Report) and LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (LYB Quick QuoteLYB - Free Report) , all sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

 

Olympic Steel has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 7.5%. Its shares rallied 34% over the past six months. 

 

Methanex has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 15%. Its shares have gained roughly 22% over the past six months.

 

LyondellBasell has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 9%. Its shares have rallied around 23% over the past six months.

 

 

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