FMC Appoints Leaders For New Lithium Materials Company

FMC Corporation’s (NYSE:FMC) executive vice president and CFO, Paul Graves, has been appointed the CEO of its earlier announced new, publicly traded lithium materials company, which will be created by separating the company’s lithium business through an IPO in the second half of 2018.

The CFO of FMC Agricultural Solutions, Gilberto Antoniazzi, has been appointed the CFO of the new company. Pierre Brondeau will continue to lead as FMC Corp.’s President, Chairman and CEO. He will also serve as the chairman of the board for the new lithium materials company.

The vice president and global business director of FMC Lithium, Tom Schneberger, will be the COO, while FMC Corp.’s vice president and treasurer, Andrew Sandifer, has been appointed as the treasurer and CFO of the new company.

Per the company, the preparations for separating its lithium business are progressing well and it is vital to have a strong executive team in place well in advance of the IPO. All the above-mentioned appointments will be effective May 15.

Shares of FMC Corp. have declined 7.9% in the past three months, underperforming the industry’s 2.4% gain.

Last month, FMC Corp. stated that it expects adjusted earnings for 2018 in the band of $5.20 to $5.60 per share. For first-quarter 2018, the company expects adjusted earnings in the range of $1.45 to $1.59 per share.

FMC Corp. expects revenues in the range of $420 million to $460 million for the Lithium unit for 2018. Segment EBITDA is forecasted to be in the band of $180 million to $200 million for the full year. For the first quarter, EBITDA is expected to be in the range of $44 million to $48 million.

For the Agricultural Solutions unit, FMC Corp. expects revenues for 2018 in the range of $3.95 billion to $4.15 billion.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

FMC Corp. currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the basic materials space are Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) , Westlake Chemical Corporation (NYSE:WLK) and United States Steel Corporation (NYSE:X) , each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Steel Dynamics has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 12%. Its shares have soared 36.9% over the last six months.

Westlake Chemical has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 12.2%. Its shares have moved up 51.3% over the past six months.

U.S. Steel has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 8%. Its shares have rallied 63.9% over the last six months.

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