Wilmington-based Chemours Company announced higher earnings for the fourth quarter and 2018, despite some headwinds in its titanium business.
“Our results for the fourth quarter and full year 2018 reflect the strength of the full Chemours portfolio and the disciplined execution of our strategy,” said CEO Mark Vergnano. “I am proud of everything we have achieved together in our third full year as Chemours, and the momentum we have created across all of our businesses. Each segment contributed to overall company growth, and laid the foundation for our capital allocation plan through which we returned nearly $800 million to shareholders in 2018.”
Full-year 2018 net sales were $6.6 billion, a 7 percent increase from $6.2 billion in 2017, reflecting higher prices across all segments.
Full-year 2018 net income increased $249 million to $995 million in comparison to net income of $746 million in the prior year.
Fourth quarter 2018 net sales were $1.5 billion in comparison to $1.6 billion in the record, prior year quarter. Results were driven primarily by lower volume in Titanium Technologies, resulting in a 10 percent impact to revenue, partially offset by a 4 percent increase in global average prices across all segments.
The company took a $33 million charge related to its Fayetteville and work to reduce chemical discharges.
As of December 31, 2018, consolidated debt was $4 billion.
The company expects free cash flow of greater than $550 million. The company expects ddjusted earnings of between approximately $4.00 and $5.05 per share.
“Our outlook for 2019 reflects continued top line and bottom line secular growth across both Fluoroproducts and Chemicals Solutions. We expect that this growth will be offset by a weaker outlook for Ti-Pure titanium dioxide volume in the first half of the year,” Vergnano said. “The company remains focused on executing its business strategies, generating significant free cash flow and delivering on its capital allocation plan which we believe will unlock significant shareholder value over time.”
