Univar Wraps Up Earthoil Acquisition, Expands Personal Care

Univar Inc. (NYSE:UNVR) has successfully completed the previously announced acquisition of Earthoil Plantations Limited through its fully-owned subsidiary, Univar Ltd.

Earthoil was a subsidiary of Treatt plc that makes and supplies innovative ingredient solutions for fragrance, flavor, consumer products and beverage industries. It generated roughly $11 million in annual sales last year.

According to Univar, Earthoil will become part of the company’s personal care business and operate normally while the process of integration is completed.

The buyout represents Univar’s disciplined approach toward investment in assets that can be leveraged across its personal care vertical in multiple regional segments. It is also a major step for Univar's global and European natural beauty and personal care market. It enables the company to add a natural ingredient product portfolio and address the needs of customers and key supplier partners.

In first-quarter 2018, Univar logged a profit (on a reported basis) of $65.4 million or 46 cents per share, rising almost three-fold from $22.6 million or 16 cents a year ago. Barring one-time items, earnings came in at 42 cents per share in the quarter, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 38 cents.

The company expects strong core business performance in the second quarter of 2018 and projects a high single digit growth in adjusted EBITDA.

Moreover, Univar sees adjusted EBITDA growth of low-double digits for full-year 2018. Moreover, the company, last month, raised its adjusted earnings expectations to the range of $1.65-$1.85 per share from the previous guidance of $1.60-$1.80.

Zacks Rank & Other Stocks to Consider

Univar currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Some other top-ranked stocks worth considering in the basic materials space are The Chemours Company (NYSE:CC) , FMC Corporation (NYSE:FMC) and Westlake Chemical Corporation (NYSE:WLK) , each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Chemours has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 15.5%. Its shares have gained 18.5% in a year.

FMC Corp has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 14.3%. Its shares have moved up 16.5% in a year.

Westlake Chemical has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 12.2%. Its shares have rallied 85.4% in a year.

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