Albemarle (ALB) Guides Q2 Profit Ahead of Expectations

Albemarle (NYSE: ALB) announced that the company expects to report second quarter 2014 earnings in the range of $86 million to $88 million, or $1.08 to $1.11 per share, excluding discontinued operations, special and non-operating pension and OPEB items, compared to $79.2 million, or $0.94 per share, excluding discontinued operations, for the second quarter of 2013.

As previously announced, the company signed a definitive agreement to sell its antioxidants, ibuprofen and propofol businesses which are treated as discontinued operations. The sale to SI Group is subject to customary closing conditions and expected to close later in 2014.

The company expects to report net sales, adjusted for discontinued operations, of approximately $605 million in the second quarter of 2014, up from net sales of approximately $577 million in the second quarter of 2013. The improvement in results compared to the second quarter of 2013 was primarily driven by stronger than expected FCC volumes and higher volumes and favorable mix within polymer catalysts, offsetting relatively weaker clear completion fluid results, related to customer specific order patterns.

*** The Street sees Q2 EPS of $.99 with revenue of $646.8 million.

"Stronger Catalyst Solutions trends drove higher than expected second quarter earnings results, attributable to a combination of modest improvements in end market demand during the period and a shift in certain orders from the third quarter into the second quarter," said Albemarle's president and CEO Luke Kissam.

The company also announced today that it will release second quarter earnings results one week later than previously announced, after the NYSE closes on Wednesday, July 30, 2014. The company will hold its conference call to discuss second quarter 2014 results on Thursday, July 31, 2014 at 9:00 am ET. This call will be webcast by NASDAQ OMX and can be accessed at Albemarle Corporation's website at http://investors.albemarle.com or by phone at the following number:

Dial-In #: 888-713-4213International Dial-In #: 617-213-4865Participant Passcode: 37694874

A replay of this call will be available beginning at 1:00 pm ET July 31, 2014 and will play until August 7, 2014 at the following number:

Dial-In #: 888-286-8010International Dial-In #: 617-801-6888Participant Passcode: 75862652

The webcast is being distributed through the Thomson Reuters StreetEvents Network. Institutional investors can access the call via Thomson's password-protected event management site, StreetEvents (www.streetevents.com).

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