LyondellBasell Reports First Quarter 2021 Earnings
LyondellBasell Industries reported a strong performance for Q1 2021 with a net income of $1.1 billion and diluted earnings per share of $3.18. The company's EBITDA reached $1.6 billion, marking the highest quarterly results for both O&P-Americas since 2015 and O&P-EAI since 2018. Key drivers included strong consumer demand and tight markets leading to margin improvements. The Louisiana joint venture contributed $130 million in EBITDA. The company has also repaid $1 billion in debt year-to-date, focusing on strengthening its investment-grade balance sheet.
- Net income increased to $1.1 billion, up from $855 million in the previous quarter.
- Diluted earnings per share rose to $3.18, compared to $2.55 in Q4 2020.
- EBITDA reached $1.6 billion, the highest for O&P-Americas since 2015.
- The new Louisiana joint venture generated $130 million in EBITDA.
- Production volumes were impacted by severe weather in Texas.
- Advanced Polymer Solutions segment experienced margin compression due to rising raw material costs.
HOUSTON and LONDON, April 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --
First Quarter 2021 Highlights
- Strong demand and tight markets drove margin improvements
- Net Income:
$1.1 billion - Diluted earnings per share:
$3.18 per share - EBITDA:
$1.6 billion ; Highest quarterly EBITDA for O&P-Americas since 2015 and O&P-EAI since 2018 - Repaid
$500 million of debt in January - Newly-formed Louisiana joint venture contributed
$130 million in EBITDA - Finalized agreement to form a propylene oxide joint venture in China with Sinopec
- Launched Circulen suite of polymers enabling customers to improve the sustainability of consumer products
Comparisons with the prior quarter and first quarter 2020 are available in the following table:
Table 1 - Earnings Summary | |||
Millions of U.S. dollars (except share data) | Three Months Ended | ||
March 31, | December 31, | March 31, | |
Sales and other operating revenues | |||
Net income | 1,070 | 855 | 144 |
Diluted earnings per share | 3.18 | 2.55 | 0.42 |
Weighted average diluted share count | 334 | 334 | 334 |
EBITDA (a) | 1,585 | 1,413 | 646 |
Excluding LCM1 | |||
Net income | |||
Diluted earnings per share | 3.18 | 2.19 | 1.47 |
LCM (benefits) charges, pre-tax | — | (147) | 419 |
EBITDA | 1,585 | 1,266 | 1,065 |
(a) See the end of this release for an explanation of the Company's use of EBITDA and Table 9 for reconciliations of net income to EBITDA. |
________________________ |
1 LCM stands for "lower of cost or market." An explanation of LCM and why we have excluded it from certain financial information can be found under "Information Related to Financial Measures." |
LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE: LYB) today announced net income for the first quarter 2021 of
"First quarter performance built upon the economic momentum we saw toward the end of last year. We experienced persistently strong consumer-driven demand, recovery in durable goods markets and industry supply constraints, which enabled price increases and drove margin improvements for many of our products. During February, unusually cold weather and related power outages impacted operations in our industry across the state of Texas and reduced our production volumes. In March we achieved the first full quarter of results for our newly-formed Louisiana joint venture. We benefited from the increased geographic diversity of our portfolio as the Louisiana ethylene cracker operated continuously when most Texas assets were down due to the cold weather. Tight markets and strong demand drove margin improvements in both of our Olefins and Polyolefins segments as well as most of the businesses in our Intermediates and Derivatives segment. Higher demand from automotive and other non-durable markets increased volumes for our Advanced Polymer Solutions segment while margins compressed due to rapidly rising raw material costs. As the industry enters the second quarter with very low inventory levels, we expect these favorable market conditions will persist as production returns," said Bob Patel, LyondellBasell CEO.
"Amidst a rapidly recovering global economy and improving market conditions, we remained focused on advancing the circular economy and the sustainable solutions we offer customers. Over the past two years, we expanded our mechanical recycling manufacturing capacity in Europe through our Quality Circular Polymers joint venture with SUEZ and also commercialized polyethylene and polypropylene products made with renewable bio-based feedstocks. We are advancing LyondellBasell's proprietary catalyzed pyrolysis technology at our MoReTec molecular recycling pilot facility in Italy with the goal of eventually bringing this potentially game-changing technology to commercial scale. In April we launched a suite of products under the brand name Circulen that enables brand owners to improve the sustainability of their consumer products," said Patel.
OUTLOOK
"LyondellBasell is emerging stronger from the pandemic and the associated global recession. With no significant planned maintenance for our assets during the second quarter, we plan to operate at nearly full capacity worldwide to meet robust demand that is expected to persist due to low inventories and maintenance downtime across our industry. Strong North American integrated polyethylene margins are anticipated to continue as U.S. producers seek to fulfill domestic order backlogs, rebuild inventories and serve export demand. During the second half of 2021, increased mobility should drive higher demand for gasoline and jet fuel, improving margins for our Refining and Oxyfuels & Related Products businesses. We also expect that moderating feedstock costs will increase second quarter margins for our Advanced Polymer Solutions segment."
"We believe that our recent value-driven growth investments should enable LyondellBasell to establish new benchmarks for the profitability of our company over the coming years. With an improving outlook for cash generation, we remain committed to further strengthening our investment grade balance sheet through deleveraging. In both January and April, we repaid
LYONDELLBASELL BUSINESS RESULTS DISCUSSION BY REPORTING SEGMENT
LyondellBasell manages operations through six operating segments: 1) Olefins and Polyolefins - Americas; 2) Olefins and Polyolefins - Europe, Asia and International; 3) Intermediates and Derivatives; 4) Advanced Polymer Solutions; 5) Refining; and 6) Technology.
Comments and analysis represent underlying business activity and are exclusive of LCM.
Olefins & Polyolefins - Americas (O&P-Americas) - Our O&P-Americas segment produces and markets Olefins & Co-products, polyethylene and polypropylene.
Table 2 - O&P-Americas Financial Overview | |||
Millions of U.S. dollars | Three Months Ended | ||
March 31, | December 31, | March 31, | |
Operating income | |||
EBITDA | 867 | 722 | 366 |
LCM charges, pre-tax | — | — | 111 |
EBITDA excluding LCM | 867 | 722 | 477 |
Three months ended March 31, 2021 versus three months ended December 31, 2020 - EBITDA increased
Three months ended March 31, 2021 versus three months ended March 31, 2020 - EBITDA increased
Olefins & Polyolefins - Europe, Asia, International (O&P-EAI) - Our O&P-EAI segment produces and markets Olefins and Co-products, polyethylene and polypropylene.
Table 3 - O&P-EAI Financial Overview | |||
Millions of U.S. dollars | Three Months Ended | ||
March 31, | December 31, | March 31, | |
Operating income | |||
EBITDA | 412 | 304 | 189 |
LCM (benefits) charges, pre-tax | — | (53) | 36 |
EBITDA excluding LCM | 412 | 251 | 225 |
Three months ended March 31, 2021 versus three months ended December 31, 2020 - EBITDA increased
Three months ended March 31, 2021 versus three months ended March 31, 2020 - EBITDA increased
Intermediates & Derivatives (I&D) - Our I&D segment produces and markets Propylene Oxide & Derivatives, Oxyfuels & Related Products and Intermediate Chemicals, such as styrene monomer, acetyls, ethylene oxide and ethylene glycol.
Table 4 - I&D Financial Overview | |||
Millions of U.S. dollars | Three Months Ended | ||
March 31, | December 31, | March 31, | |
Operating income | |||
EBITDA | 182 | 262 | 203 |
LCM (benefits) charges, pre-tax | — | (66) | 78 |
EBITDA excluding LCM | 182 | 196 | 281 |
Three months ended March 31, 2021 versus three months ended December 31, 2020 - EBITDA decreased
Three months ended March 31, 2021 versus three months ended March 31, 2020 - EBITDA decreased
Advanced Polymer Solutions (APS) - Our Advanced Polymer Solutions segment produces and markets in two lines of business: Compounding & Solutions and Advanced Polymers. Compounding & Solutions includes polypropylene compounds, engineered plastics, masterbatches, engineered composites, colors and powders. Advanced Polymers consists of Catalloy and polybutene-1.
Table 5 - Advanced Polymer Solutions Financial Overview | |||
Millions of U.S. dollars | Three Months Ended | ||
March 31, | December 31, | March 31, | |
Operating income | |||
EBITDA | 135 | 152 | 113 |
LCM (benefits) charges, pre-tax | — | (26) | 2 |
EBITDA excluding LCM | 135 | 126 | 115 |
Three months ended March 31, 2021 versus three months ended December 31, 2020 - EBITDA increased
Three months ended March 31, 2021 versus three months ended March 31, 2020 - EBITDA increased
Refining - Our Refining segment produces and markets gasoline and distillates, including diesel fuel, heating oil and jet fuel.
Table 6 - Refining Financial Overview | |||
Millions of U.S. dollars | Three Months Ended | ||
March 31, | December 31, | March 31, | |
Operating loss | |||
EBITDA | (110) | (72) | (272) |
LCM (benefits) charges, pre-tax | — | (2) | 192 |
EBITDA excluding LCM | (110) | (74) | (80) |
Three months ended March 31, 2021 versus three months ended December 31, 2020 - EBITDA decreased
Three months ended March 31, 2021 versus three months ended March 31, 2020 - EBITDA decreased
Technology - Our Technology segment develops and licenses chemical and polyolefin process technologies and manufactures and sells polyolefin catalysts.
Table 7 - Technology Financial Overview | |||
Millions of U.S. dollars | Three Months Ended | ||
March 31, | December 31, | March 31, | |
Operating income | |||
EBITDA | 94 | 45 | 56 |
Three months ended March 31, 2021 versus three months ended December 31, 2020 - EBITDA increased
Three months ended March 31, 2021 versus three months ended March 31, 2020 - EBITDA increased
Capital Spending and Cash Balances
Capital expenditures, including growth projects, maintenance turnarounds, catalyst and information technology-related expenditures, were
Reconciliations and Additional Information
Quantitative reconciliations of net income, the most comparable GAAP measure, to EBITDA are provided in Table 9 at the end of this release. Additional operating and financial information, including reconciliations of non-GAAP measures, may be found on our website at www.LyondellBasell.com/investorrelations.
CONFERENCE CALL
LyondellBasell will host a conference call April 30 at 11 a.m. EDT. Participants on the call will include Chief Executive Officer Bob Patel, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Michael McMurray and Head of Investor Relations David Kinney.
The toll-free dial-in number in the U.S. is 1-800-475-8402. A complete listing of toll-free numbers by country is available at www.LyondellBasell.com/teleconference for international callers. The passcode for all numbers is 6934553.
The slides and webcast that accompany the call will be available at www.LyondellBasell.com/earnings.
A replay of the call will be available from 1:00 p.m. EDT April 30 until May 31 at 12:59 a.m. EDT. The replay dial-in numbers are 1-800-944-6417 (U.S.) and 1-203-369-3942 (international). The passcode for each is 36941.
ABOUT LYONDELLBASELL
LyondellBasell (NYSE: LYB) is one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world. Driven by its employees around the globe, LyondellBasell produces materials and products that are key to advancing solutions to modern challenges like enhancing food safety through lightweight and flexible packaging, protecting the purity of water supplies through stronger and more versatile pipes, improving the safety, comfort and fuel efficiency of many of the cars and trucks on the road, and ensuring the safe and effective functionality in electronics and appliances. LyondellBasell sells products into more than 100 countries and is the world's largest producer of polypropylene compounds and the largest licensor of polyolefin technologies. In 2021, LyondellBasell was named to Fortune magazine's list of the "World's Most Admired Companies" for the fourth consecutive year. More information about LyondellBasell can be found at www.LyondellBasell.com.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
The statements in this presentation relating to matters that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon assumptions of management of LyondellBasell which are believed to be reasonable at the time made and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. When used in this presentation, the words "estimate," "believe," "continue," "could," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential," "predict," "should," "will," "expect," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such identifying words. Actual results could differ materially based on factors including, but not limited to, market conditions, the business cyclicality of the chemical, polymers and refining industries; the availability, cost and price volatility of raw materials and utilities, particularly the cost of oil, natural gas, and associated natural gas liquids; uncertainties related to the extent and duration of the pandemic-related decline in demand, or other impacts due to the COVID-19 pandemic in geographic regions or markets served by us, or where our operations are located, including the risk of prolonged recession; competitive product and pricing pressures; labor conditions; our ability to attract and retain key personnel; operating interruptions (including leaks, explosions, fires, weather-related incidents, mechanical failure, unscheduled downtime, supplier disruptions, labor shortages, strikes, work stoppages or other labor difficulties, transportation interruptions, spills and releases and other environmental risks); the supply/demand balances for our and our joint ventures' products, and the related effects of industry production capacities and operating rates; our ability to achieve expected cost savings and other synergies; our ability to successfully execute projects and growth strategies; future financial and operating results; benefits and synergies of any proposed transactions; legal and environmental proceedings; tax rulings, consequences or proceedings; technological developments, and our ability to develop new products and process technologies; potential governmental regulatory actions; political unrest and terrorist acts; risks and uncertainties posed by international operations, including foreign currency fluctuations; and our ability to comply with debt covenants and to amend, extend, repay, redeem, service, and reduce our debt. Additional factors that could cause results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in the "Risk Factors" section of our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020. which can be found at www.LyondellBasell.com on the Investor Relations page and on the Securities and Exchange Commission's website at www.sec.gov. There is no assurance that any of the actions, events or results of the forward-looking statements will occur, or if any of them do, what impact they will have on our results of operations or financial condition. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they were made and are based on the estimates and opinions of management of LyondellBasell at the time the statements are made. LyondellBasell does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements should circumstances or management's estimates or opinions change, except as required by law.
INFORMATION RELATED TO FINANCIAL MEASURES
This release makes reference to certain non-GAAP financial measures as defined in Regulation G of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
We report our financial results in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, but believe that certain non-GAAP financial measures, such as EBITDA, net income and diluted EPS exclusive of adjustments for "lower of cost or market" ("LCM") and impairment, and certain liquidity measures provide useful supplemental information to investors regarding the underlying business trends and performance of the company's ongoing operations and are useful for period-over-period comparisons of such operations. Non-GAAP financial measures should be considered as a supplement to, and not as a substitute for, or superior to, the financial measures prepared in accordance with GAAP.
EBITDA, as presented herein, may not be comparable to a similarly titled measure reported by other companies due to differences in the way the measure is calculated. We calculate EBITDA as income from continuing operations plus interest expense (net), provision for (benefit from) income taxes, and depreciation & amortization. EBITDA should not be considered an alternative to profit or operating profit for any period as an indicator of our performance, or as an alternative to operating cash flows as a measure of our liquidity. We also present EBITDA, net income and diluted EPS exclusive of adjustments for ("LCM") and impairment. LCM is an accounting rule consistent with GAAP related to the valuation of inventory. Our inventories are stated at the lower of cost or market. Cost is determined using the last-in, first-out ("LIFO") inventory valuation methodology, which means that the most recently incurred costs are charged to cost of sales and inventories are valued at the earliest acquisition costs. Fluctuation in the prices of crude oil, natural gas and correlated products from period to period may result in the recognition of charges to adjust the value of inventory to the lower of cost or market in periods of falling prices and the reversal of those charges in subsequent interim periods as market prices recover. Property, plant and equipment are recorded at historical costs. If it is determined that an asset or asset group's undiscounted future cash flows will not be sufficient to recover the carrying amount, an impairment charge is recognized to write the asset down to its estimated fair value.
Liquidity is a measure that provides an indicator of value to investors. For purposes of this release, liquidity includes cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents, short term investments, and availability under our Senior Revolving Credit Facility and our Receivables Facility.
Additional operating and financial information, including reconciliations of non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measure, may be found in Table 9 at the end of this release and on our website at www.LyondellBasell.com/investorrelations.
OTHER FINANCIAL MEASURE PRESENTATION NOTES
This release contains time sensitive information that is accurate only as of the time hereof. Information contained in this release is unaudited and subject to change. LyondellBasell undertakes no obligation to update the information presented herein except to the extent required by law.
Table 8 - Reconciliation of Segment Information to Consolidated Financial Information | ||||||||||||||||||
2020 | 2021 | |||||||||||||||||
Millions of U.S. Dollars | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total | Q1 | ||||||||||||
Sales and other operating revenues: | ||||||||||||||||||
Olefins & Polyolefins - Americas | $ | 1,792 | $ | 1,433 | $ | 1,840 | $ | 2,210 | $ | 7,275 | $ | 2,859 | ||||||
Olefins & Polyolefins - EAI | 2,224 | 1,702 | 1,982 | 2,459 | 8,367 | 3,047 | ||||||||||||
Intermediates & Derivatives | 1,770 | 1,157 | 1,538 | 1,804 | 6,269 | 1,767 | ||||||||||||
Advanced Polymer Solutions | 1,096 | 705 | 1,004 | 1,108 | 3,913 | 1,270 | ||||||||||||
Refining | 1,448 | 919 | 1,101 | 1,259 | 4,727 | 1,126 | ||||||||||||
Technology | 122 | 177 | 193 | 167 | 659 | 165 | ||||||||||||
Other/Eliminations | (958) | (547) | (882) | (1,070) | (3,457) | (1,152) | ||||||||||||
Continuing operations | $ | 7,494 | $ | 5,546 | $ | 6,776 | $ | 7,937 | $ | 27,753 | $ | 9,082 | ||||||
Operating income (loss): | ||||||||||||||||||
Olefins & Polyolefins - Americas | $ | 238 | $ | 107 | $ | 309 | $ | 516 | $ | 1,170 | $ | 687 | ||||||
Olefins & Polyolefins - EAI | 135 | 81 | 52 | 144 | 412 | 259 | ||||||||||||
Intermediates & Derivatives | 131 | 24 | 180 | 166 | 501 | 88 | ||||||||||||
Advanced Polymer Solutions | 70 | (83) | 116 | 123 | 226 | 104 | ||||||||||||
Refining | (314) | 116 | (733) | (93) | (1,024) | (130) | ||||||||||||
Technology | 47 | 104 | 101 | 35 | 287 | 82 | ||||||||||||
Other | (3) | (10) | (2) | 2 | (13) | (2) | ||||||||||||
Continuing operations | $ | 304 | $ | 339 | $ | 23 | $ | 893 | $ | 1,559 | $ | 1,088 | ||||||
Depreciation and amortization: | ||||||||||||||||||
Olefins & Polyolefins - Americas | $ | 124 | $ | 133 | $ | 134 | $ | 134 | $ | 525 | $ | 143 | ||||||
Olefins & Polyolefins - EAI | 53 | 53 | 55 | 53 | 214 | 53 | ||||||||||||
Intermediates & Derivatives | 70 | 74 | 79 | 82 | 305 | 80 | ||||||||||||
Advanced Polymer Solutions | 44 | 39 | 40 | 29 | 152 | 28 | ||||||||||||
Refining | 42 | 49 | 40 | 21 | 152 | 19 | ||||||||||||
Technology | 9 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 37 | 12 | ||||||||||||
Continuing operations | $ | 342 | $ | 356 | $ | 358 | $ | 329 | $ | 1,385 | $ | 335 | ||||||
EBITDA:(a) | ||||||||||||||||||
Olefins & Polyolefins - Americas | $ | 366 | $ | 248 | $ | 474 | $ | 722 | $ | 1,810 | $ | 867 | ||||||
Olefins & Polyolefins - EAI | 189 | 185 | 148 | 304 | 826 | 412 | ||||||||||||
Intermediates & Derivatives | 203 | 101 | 267 | 262 | 833 | 182 | ||||||||||||
Advanced Polymer Solutions | 113 | (44) | 157 | 152 | 378 | 135 | ||||||||||||
Refining | (272) | 165 | (692) | (72) | (871) | (110) | ||||||||||||
Technology | 56 | 112 | 111 | 45 | 324 | 94 | ||||||||||||
Other | (9) | (7) | 1 | — | (15) | 5 | ||||||||||||
Continuing operations | $ | 646 | $ | 760 | $ | 466 | $ | 1,413 | $ | 3,285 | $ | 1,585 | ||||||
Capital, turnarounds and IT deferred spending: | ||||||||||||||||||
Olefins & Polyolefins - Americas | $ | 204 | $ | 190 | $ | 130 | $ | 19 | $ | 543 | $ | 65 | ||||||
Olefins & Polyolefins - EAI | 42 | 34 | 38 | 52 | 166 | 40 | ||||||||||||
Intermediates & Derivatives | 353 | 305 | 103 | 119 | 880 | 145 | ||||||||||||
Advanced Polymer Solutions | 13 | 10 | 18 | 22 | 63 | 20 | ||||||||||||
Refining | 16 | 21 | 15 | 11 | 63 | 25 | ||||||||||||
Technology | 30 | 26 | 24 | 31 | 111 | 22 | ||||||||||||
Other | 2 | 2 | 97 | 20 | 121 | 23 | ||||||||||||
Continuing operations | $ | 660 | $ | 588 | $ | 425 | $ | 274 | $ | 1,947 | $ | 340 | ||||||
(a) See Table 9 for the reconciliation of net income to EBITDA, including and excluding LCM and impairment. |
Table 9 - Reconciliation of Net Income to EBITDA, including and excluding LCM and Impairment | |||||||||||||||||
2020 | 2021 | ||||||||||||||||
Millions of U.S. dollars | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total | Q1 | |||||||||||
Net income | $ | 144 | $ | 314 | $ | 114 | $ | 855 | $ | 1,427 | $ | 1,070 | |||||
add: LCM charges (benefits), after-tax | 351 | (88) | (133) | (119) | 11 | — | |||||||||||
add: Impairment of long-lived assets, after-tax | — | — | 446 | — | 446 | — | |||||||||||
Net income excluding LCM and impairment | 495 | 226 | 427 | 736 | 1,884 | 1,070 | |||||||||||
less: LCM (charges) benefits, after-tax | (351) | 88 | 133 | 119 | (11) | — | |||||||||||
less: Impairment of long-lived assets, after-tax | — | — | (446) | — | (446) | — | |||||||||||
Net income | 144 | 314 | 114 | 855 | 1,427 | 1,070 | |||||||||||
(Income) loss from discontinued operations, net of tax | (1) | 1 | — | 2 | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||
Income from continuing operations | 143 | 315 | 114 | 857 | 1,429 | 1,072 | |||||||||||
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes | 75 | (32) | (125) | 39 | (43) | 70 | |||||||||||
Depreciation and amortization | 342 | 356 | 358 | 329 | 1,385 | 335 | |||||||||||
Interest expense, net | 86 | 121 | 119 | 188 | 514 | 108 | |||||||||||
add: LCM charges (benefits), pre-tax | 419 | (96) | (160) | (147) | 16 | — | |||||||||||
EBITDA excluding LCM | 1,065 | 664 | 306 | 1,266 | 3,301 | 1,585 | |||||||||||
add: Impairment of long-lived assets, pre-tax | — | — | 582 | — | 582 | — | |||||||||||
EBITDA excluding LCM and impairment | 1,065 | 664 | 888 | 1,266 | 3,883 | 1,585 | |||||||||||
less: LCM (charges) benefits, pre-tax | (419) | 96 | 160 | 147 | (16) | — | |||||||||||
less: Impairment of long-lived assets, pre-tax | — | — | (582) | — | (582) | — | |||||||||||
EBITDA | $ | 646 | $ | 760 | $ | 466 | $ | 1,413 | $ | 3,285 | $ | 1,585 | |||||
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SOURCE LyondellBasell Industries
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