LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE: LYB) reported Q1 EPS of $2.19, in-line with the analyst estimate of $2.19. Revenue for the quarter came in at $8.78 billion versus the consensus estimate of $9.36 billion.

First Quarter 2019 Highlights

• Net Income: $0.8 billion
• Diluted earnings per share: $2.19 per share
• EBITDA: $1.4 billion
• Issued dividends and repurchased shares totaling $884 million; 5.6 million shares repurchased during the first quarter

"LyondellBasell began 2019 with strong operational performance, increasing sales volumes in Europe and Asia and delivering promised value from the A. Schulman acquisition. EBITDA for our Olefins and Polyolefins - Europe, Asia, International segment rebounded with a 133 percent improvement over the fourth quarter 2018 and a strong recovery in polyolefins sales volumes. EBITDA for our Advanced Polymer Solutions segment demonstrated the promised quarterly synergies in addition to achieving our expectations for significant improvement in baseline business performance. Our Houston refinery delivered another quarter of highly reliable operations, reducing the effects of a challenging refining market," said Bob Patel, LyondellBasell CEO.

"Market demand improved in the first quarter as the industry recovered from an unusually slow fourth quarter. During the first quarter, sales volumes increased 14 percent for polypropylene globally, 9 percent for propylene oxide and derivatives and 15 percent for polypropylene compounds in Europe. We continued to advance our value-driven growth strategy by actively managing our asset portfolio with the acquisition of a syngas plant in La Porte, Texas and the increase of our ownership of methanol production at the site to 100 percent," Patel said.

OUTLOOK

"In the first few weeks of April we have seen signs of industry improvement. The strength in market sentiment is driving higher margins for our Olefins & Polyolefins - EAI segment. In our Olefins & Polyolefins - Americas segment we are seeing volume improvement as we enter a period of strong seasonal demand. The refining market is also improving with increasing gasoline spreads and wider discounts for heavy sour crude oil. Looking beyond the quarter, we will advance our growth strategy and increase our earnings with a robust pipeline of licensing revenue for 2019 in addition to the third quarter start-up of our world-scale HDPE plant which utilizes our innovative Hyperzone technology," Patel said.

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