Calgon
Carbon Corporation (CCC) Q4 2012
Earnings Call February 21, 2013 10:00 AM ET
Operator
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by, and welcome to
the Calgon Carbon Corporation's Fourth Quarter 2012 Results Call. All lines
have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers'
remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session.
(Operator Instructions)
I will now like to turn the call over to Gail Gerono, Vice
President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Good morning and thank you for
joining us. Our speakers today are Randy Dearth, Calgon Carbon’s CEO, Bob
O'Brien our Chief Operating Officer and Steve Schott our CFO.
Before we begin, I would like to remind you that the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a Safe Harbor for
forward-looking statements. Today's presentations or perhaps some of the
comments that Calgon Carbon’s executives make during the Q&A may contain
statements that are forward-looking. Forward-looking statements typically
contain words such expect, believe, estimate, anticipate, or similar words
indicating that future outcomes are uncertain.
Statements looking forward in time including statements
regarding future growth and profitability, price increases, cost savings,
broader product lines, enhanced competitive posture and acquisitions are
included in the Company's most recent annual report pursuant to the Safe Harbor
provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. They involve
known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the Company's actual
results in future periods to be materially different from any future
performance suggested during the webcast.
Further, the Company operates in an industry sector where
securities values may be volatile and may be influenced by economic and other
factors beyond the Company's control. Some of the factors that could affect the
future performance of the company are changes in or delays in the
implementation of regulations that cause the market for our products,
acquisitions high energy and raw material costs, costs of imports and related
tariffs, labor relations, capital and environmental requirements, changes in
foreign currency exchange rates, borrowing restrictions, validity of patents
and other intellectual property, and pension costs.
In the context of the forward-looking information provided in
this webcast, please refer to the discussions of risk factors and other
information detailed in, as well as the other information contained in the
Company's most recent Annual Report. Randy?
Thanks, Gail and welcome everyone to the
call. First I would like to reiterate what I said in our press release that was
issued earlier today. Calgon Carbon’s financial performance for the fourth
quarter of 2012 was solid, generating earnings per share of $0.16. We had a
good quarter and we also made excellent progress on our corporate initiatives,
especially in reducing cost.
I will review that progress and discuss future initiatives a bit
later. First, Steve will review the company’s financial performance for the
fourth quarter and then Bob will provide a review of operations. So, Steve?
Steve Schott
Thanks, Randy. Good morning, everyone. Total sales for the
fourth quarter of 2012 were $141.8 million compared to $138.2 million in the
fourth quarter of 2011, the sales increase of $3.6 million or 2.6% was
primarily due to higher sales in the Activated Carbon and Service segment of
$5.1 million in spite of $1 million of unfavorable foreign exchange effects.
The increased sales in the Activated Carbon and Service segment were partially
offset by a decline in the Equipment segment sales of $2.1 million.
