Univar's (UNVR) Earnings And Revenues Top Estimates In Q1

Univar Inc. (NYSE:UNVR) logged a profit (on a reported basis) of $65.4 million or 46 cents per share in first-quarter 2018, 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 chemical maker’s revenues rose 8% year over year to $2,158 million in the quarter, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2,137 million.

Gross profit rose around 10.7% year over year to $486.6 million in the quarter with gains witnessed across all segments. Adjusted EBITDA margin increased 70 basis points to 7.7%.

Univar Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Segment Review

Revenues from the USA division increased 4.6% year over year to $1.2 billion in the reported quarter. Gross profit rose 6.1% year over year to $278.9 million.

Revenues from the Canada segment went up around 2% to $313.4 million. Gross profit rose roughly 11.8% to $62.4 million in the quarter.

The EMEA segment raked in sales of $538.6 million, up 22.5%. Gross profit rose around 21.8% to $124 million.

Sales from the Rest of World unit inched up 0.7% to $101.6 million. Gross profit grew 12.7% year over year to $21.3 million.

Balance Sheet

Univar ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $115.9 million, down around 61.4% year over year. Long-term debt was $2,683.5 million, down around 7.6% year over year.

Outlook

For full-year 2018, Univar sees adjusted EBITDA growth of low-double digits. For 2018, adjusted earnings are expected in the range of $1.65-$1.85 per share, up from the previous guidance of $1.60-$1.80.

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

Price Performance

Univar has underperformed the industry over the last six months. The company’s shares have lost 11.8% over this period compared with the industry’s 3.1% decline.

Zacks Rank & Other Stocks to Consider

Univar carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Some other top-ranked companies in the basic materials space worth considering are FMC Corporation (NYSE:FMC) , Huntsman Corporation (NYSE:HUN) and Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE) . All three stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

FMC Corp has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 13.6%. Its shares have gained around 20.2% over a year.

Huntsman has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 8.3%. Its shares have moved up around 22.5% over a year.

Celanese has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 8.9%. Its shares have gained around 28.5% over a year.

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