VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA–(Marketwired – Jan. 28, 2015) – Methanex Corporation (TSX:MX)(NASDAQ:MEOH) –
For the fourth quarter of 2014, Methanex reported Adjusted EBITDA1 of $150 million and Adjusted net income1 of $80 million ($0.85 per share on a diluted basis1). This compares with Adjusted EBITDA1 of $137 million and Adjusted net income1 of $66 million ($0.69 per share on a diluted basis1) for the third quarter of 2014. For the year ended December 31, 2014, Methanex reported Adjusted EBITDA1 of $702 million and Adjusted net income1 of $397 million ($4.12 per share on a diluted basis1). This compares with Adjusted EBITDA of $736 million and Adjusted net income1 of $471 million ($4.88 per share on a diluted basis) for the year ended December 31, 2013.
John Floren, President and CEO of Methanex commented, “We achieved solid results in Q4, with higher Adjusted EBITDA and earnings versus Q3. A steep drop in oil and related downstream product prices this quarter lowered the affordability for methanol into certain energy applications and this, along with strong industry supply, pressured global methanol pricing. We continue to see stable demand from chemical applications, and the recently lower methanol pricing has helped to restore the affordability of methanol for energy applications.”
Mr. Floren added, “We announced earlier this week that our Geismar 1 plant has successfully started up on schedule and is producing methanol. This marks another key milestone in our 2013 commitment to grow our operating capacity by approximately three million tonnes over three years. We also continue to make excellent progress on the construction of our one million tonne Geismar 2 plant, and remain on target for methanol production in late Q1 2016.”
“During the quarter, we returned over $100 million in cash to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases, bringing total cash returned to shareholders in 2014 to just over $340 million. We announced today that we have increased our Normal Course Issuer Bid initiated on May 6, 2014 to allow for up to an incremental 3,751,519 common shares to be purchased, for a total of 8,577,716 common shares, or 10% of our public float.”
“In Q4 we issued $600 million in new bonds, bringing our total cash on hand as at December 31, 2014 to over $900 million. With our cash on hand, undrawn credit facility, robust balance sheet, and strong future cash flow generation, we are well positioned to meet our financial commitments, invest to grow the Company and return excess cash to shareholders through dividends and our share buyback program.”
A conference call is scheduled for January 29, 2015 at 12:00 noon ET (9:00 am PT) to review these fourth quarter results. To access the call, dial the conferencing operator ten minutes prior to the start of the call at (416) 340-8530, or toll free at (800) 769-8320. A playback version of the conference call will be available until February 19, 2015 at (905) 694-9451, or toll free at (800) 408-3053. The passcode for the playback version is 3241984. Presentation slides summarizing Q4-14 results and a simultaneous audio-only webcast of the conference call can be accessed from our website at www.methanex.com. The webcast will be available on the website for three weeks following the call.
Methanex is a Vancouver-based, publicly traded company and is the world’s largest producer and 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” and on the NASDAQ Global Market in the United States under the trading symbol “MEOH”.
FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION WARNING
This Fourth Quarter 2014 press release contains forward-looking statements with respect to us and the chemical industry. Refer to Forward-Looking Information Warning in the attached Fourth Quarter 2014 Management’s Discussion and Analysis for more information.
1 Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted net income and Adjusted net income per common share are non-GAAP measures which do not have any standardized meaning prescribed by GAAP. These measures represent the amounts that are attributable to Methanex Corporation shareholders and are calculated by excluding the mark-to-market impact of share-based compensation as a result of changes in our share price and certain items considered by management to be non-operational. Refer to the Additional Information – Supplemental Non-GAAP Measures section of the attached Interim Report for the three months ended December 31, 2014 for reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP measures.
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For further information, contact:
Sandra Daycock
Director, Investor Relations
Methanex Corporation
604-661-2600
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