LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) Tops Q4 EPS by 83c

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE: LYB) reported Q4 EPS of $2.19, $0.83 better than the analyst estimate of $1.36. Revenue for the quarter came in at $7.94 billion versus the consensus estimate of $7.03 billion.

OUTLOOK:

"Improving trends seen in the closing weeks of December are continuing into the first quarter of 2021 and providing a bridge to the seasonal upticks typically seen in our businesses during the second and third quarters. Elevated export demand to China and Latin America combined with tight markets are supporting strong margins for our Olefins and Polyolefins businesses. Increased demand from automotive and construction markets has pushed the January order book for our Advanced Polymer Solutions segment to higher levels than the fourth quarter 2020 average. With wider deployment of coronavirus vaccines, we anticipate that increasing mobility and transportation fuel demand could provide significant upside for our oxyfuels and refining businesses during the latter half of this year."

"LyondellBasell's measured approach to advancing value-driven growth is delivering results. The Advanced Polymer Solutions platform is serving broader markets and beginning to capture the benefits from more than $200 million in synergies. Our next-generation Hyperzone high-density polyethylene technology expanded our U.S. capacity and is establishing new benchmarks for differentiated product performance. We formed two integrated cracker joint ventures that are quickly delivering accretive returns from high-quality assets benefiting from advantaged feedstocks and growing markets. In January 2021, we continued on this strategy to form a new joint venture to build our second world-scale propylene oxide and styrene monomer unit in China."

"In the near term, the top priority for our balance sheet is debt reduction. In January, we repaid $500 million of debt outstanding with more deleveraging planned for the remainder of 2021. We are well-poised to harvest profitability from our disciplined growth initiatives that should increase free cash flow and allow us to further strengthen our investment grade balance sheet," said Patel.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) click here.

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