VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA—(Marketwire – Oct. 27, 2009) – Methanex Corporation (TSX:MX)(NASDAQ:MEOH)(SANTIAGO:Methanex) – For the third quarter of 2009, Methanex reported Adjusted EBITDA(1) of $31.0 million and a net loss of $0.8 million ($0.01 per share on a diluted basis). This compares with Adjusted EBITDA of $24.8 million and a net loss of $5.7 million ($0.06 per share on a diluted basis) for the second quarter of 2009.
Bruce Aitken, President and CEO of Methanex, commented, “It is pleasing to see the beginning of recovery in our numbers for the quarter. Sales volumes are up 13% from Q2 2009 and realized methanol prices rose about 16%. These results translated into improved EBITDA, cash generation and earnings. However, the quarter was negatively impacted by a number of mostly one-off costs such as stock-based compensation and unplanned outages at our plants in Chile and Trinidad.”
Mr. Aitken added, “During the third quarter, methanol demand increased in all regions globally and industry supply was impacted by many planned and unplanned outages. These factors have led to a recent strong recovery in methanol prices which provides upward momentum to our earnings in the fourth quarter. And with increases in production expected from our Chile operations and our new project in Egypt over the next year, there is significantly more upside potential to our earnings.”
Mr. Aitken concluded, “With US$197 million of cash on hand at the end of the quarter, a strong balance sheet, no near term refinancing requirements, and an undrawn credit facility, we are well positioned to continue to invest to grow the Company.”
A conference call is scheduled for October 28, 2009 at 11:00 am ET (8:00 am PT) to review these third quarter results. To access the call, dial the Conferencing operator ten minutes prior to the start of the call at (416) 340-8018, or toll free at (866) 223-7781. A playback version of the conference call will be available for fourteen days at (416) 695-5800, or toll free at (800) 408-3053. The security passcode for the playback version is 6704266. There will be a simultaneous audio-only webcast of the conference call, which can be accessed from our website at www.methanex.com. In addition, an audio recording of the conference call can be downloaded from our website for three weeks after the call.
Methanex is a Vancouver-based, publicly traded company and is the world’s largest supplier of methanol to major international markets. Methanex shares are listed for trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange in Canada under the trading symbol “MX”, on the NASDAQ Global Market in the United States under the trading symbol “MEOH”, and on the foreign securities market of the Santiago Stock Exchange in Chile under the trading symbol “Methanex”. Methanex can be visited online at www.methanex.com.
FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION WARNING
This Third Quarter 2009 press release contains forward-looking statements with respect to us and the chemical industry. Refer to Forward-Looking Information Warning in the attached Third Quarter 2009 Management’s Discussion and Analysis for more information.
| (1) | Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure that does not have any standardized meaning prescribed by Canadian generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and therefore is unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. Refer to Additional Information – Supplemental Non-GAAP Measures in the attached Third Quarter 2009 Management’s Discussion and Analysis for a description of each supplemental non-GAAP measure and a reconciliation to the most comparable GAAP measure. |
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For further information, contact:
Jason Chesko
Director, Investor Relations
Methanex Corporation
604-661-2600
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