Clean Harbors, Inc. (CLH) Tops Q1 EPS by 1c

Clean Harbors, Inc. (NYSE: CLH) reported Q1 EPS of $0.15, $0.01 better than the analyst estimate of $0.14. Revenue for the quarter came in at $846.7 million versus the consensus estimate of $833.05 million.

Clean Harbors, Inc. sees Q2 2014 revenue of $860-880 million, versus the consensus of $880.77 million.

“We ended the first quarter with a strong finish, exceeding our revenue guidance and reporting Adjusted EBITDA in line with our expectations,” said Alan S. McKim, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “Adverse weather affected our business in the first two months of the quarter, but conditions began to normalize and we achieved improved results in many of our lines of business. Within our segments, we saw Technical Services deliver another solid quarter, achieving year-over-year growth as incineration utilization reached 91% and landfill volumes grew 25% on increased project work.”

“In our Industrial and Field Services segment, strength in our core Industrial business was offset by the negative translation impact of our Canadian operations into U.S. dollars,” McKim said. “The performance of our SK Environmental Services segment reflected the unfavorable weather, which caused abnormally high office closures, slowed customer demand and increased heating/maintenance costs. Our Oil Re-refining and Recycling segment rebounded from year-end and demonstrated improvement as the quarter progressed, including some pricing gains in March after a significant decline in base oil pricing in January. Our Oil and Gas Field Services segment performed as expected in the quarter despite softness in our seismic business and the unfavorable currency translation effect.”

“In conjunction with our fourth-quarter news release, we announced a number of initiatives aimed at lowering our cost structure and improving our returns,” McKim said. “Beyond the synergies that we already achieved through Safety-Kleen in 2013, we set a target of eliminating an additional $75 million in companywide expenses. Many of these programs are underway, and we remain on course to attain our full-year goal. We also launched a series of margin improvement initiatives, such as actions related to our pay-for-oil (PFO) program. During the first quarter, we lowered PFO costs by three cents per gallon from the fourth quarter and are encouraged by the efforts of that entire team.”

“We are focused on increasing our returns and recognizing the value presented by our own shares. As a result, we launched the first stock buyback program in our Company’s history late in the first quarter. The Board authorized a $150 million program that we intend to pursue going forward,” McKim said.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Clean Harbors, Inc. (CLH) click here.

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