Innophos Holdings' net sales decrease 1% to $194 million in fourth quarter 2014

Innophos Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: IPHS), a leading international producer of performance-critical and nutritional specialty ingredients, with applications in food, beverage, dietary supplements, pharmaceutical, oral care and industrial end markets, today announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2014.

Fourth Quarter Results

• Net sales for the fourth quarter 2014 of $194 million were down 1% compared to the fourth quarter 2013. Specialty Phosphates sales declined 5% year-over-year, with prices down 4% and volumes down 1% amid continued soft market conditions.
• US/Canada Specialty Phosphates sales of $139 million were down 4% compared to the prior year quarter, which was primarily driven by an 18% year-over-year decline in PPA as a result of the previously disclosed 2014 second half PPA supply issues.
• Mexico Specialty Phosphates sales of $39 million declined 9% compared to the year ago period with prices down 5% and volumes down 4%.
• GTSP & Other sales of $16 million were up 70% versus the prior year quarter on higher volumes and prices.
• Diluted EPS for the fourth quarter 2014 was $0.52 which included an unfavorable $0.13 of translation expense and exchange effects in taxes. The US dollar is the functional currency of the Canadian and Mexican businesses, so these losses are solely due to the re-measurement of foreign denominated balance sheet accounts. The current quarter EPS compares to $0.65 diluted EPS for the fourth quarter 2013.
• The Company repurchased 278,578 shares for $15.3 million during the fourth quarter 2014 and paid $10.4 million in dividends, returning a total of $25.7 million to shareholders, more than double the net income of the quarter.

Full Year Results

• Net sales for 2014 of $839 million were down 1% compared to 2013. Specialty Phosphates sales declined 2% year-over-year on lower prices and flat volumes due to soft market conditions.
• US/Canada Specialty Phosphates sales of $594 million were down 2% compared to the prior year, which was primarily driven by a 12% decline in PPA as a result of the PPA supply issues that affected the Company in the second half of the year.
• Mexico Specialty Phosphates sales of $167 million declined 1% compared to the year ago period with prices down 2% and volumes up 1%.
• GTSP & Other sales of $77 million were up 16% versus the prior year on higher volumes but lower prices.
• Diluted EPS for 2014 was $2.91 which included an unfavorable $0.20 of translation expense and exchange effects in taxes. The US dollar is the functional currency of the Canadian and Mexican businesses, so these losses are solely due to the re-measurement of foreign denominated balance sheet accounts. The current year EPS compares to $2.21 diluted EPS for 2013 or $2.59 after giving effect to prior year adjustments disclosed in 2013 earnings releases.
• The Company repurchased 528,361 shares for $29.5 million and paid $38.4 million in dividends for a total return to shareholders of $68 million representing 105% of net income for 2014.

Randy Gress, CEO of Innophos, commented, "We are pleased with our improved execution during the year, which led to better operating performance and higher cash flow generation, despite continued headwinds from soft market demand and second half PPA supply issues hurting our top-line performance. Our 2014 operating income improved by $23 million and our Specialty Phosphates operating income margins increased by 310 basis points on improved operating performance at our Coatzacoalcos, Mexico facility. Our continued performance improvement initiatives in Mexico led to the seventh consecutive quarter of yield improvement, 660 basis points higher compared to the first quarter 2013 lows. Our cash flow conversion was again very strong with $97million of free cash flow for 2014, more than 50% higher than our net income for the year."

Mr. Gress concluded, "In light of our continued strong cash flow generation, we remain committed to returning value to our shareholders. In 2014, we increased our dividend rate by 20% and paid out over $38 million of cash flow in dividends. We also spent more than four times the amount of any previous year on share buybacks, exhausting our 2011 program capacity, and are targeting to repurchase roughly 10% of outstanding shares in 2015 under our recently authorized $125 million share buyback program."

Segment Results – full year and fourth quarter 2014 versus 2013

Specialty Phosphates

For the quarter, Specialty Phosphates sales declined 5% year-over-year, with prices down 4% and volumes down 1% due to continued soft market conditions.

Full year Specialty Phosphates sales were down 2% versus 2013 on lower prices and flat volumes due to soft market conditions.

Fourth quarter 2014 operating income of $23 million was $4 million below the prior year period, primarily on lower PPA volumes and higher costs in the US/Canada segment. Operating income margin for the quarter was 13%, down 150 basis points compared to the same period in 2013.

Full year operating income of $111 million was up $22 million versus 2013, primarily on improved operations in Mexico. Operating income margin was 15% for full year 2014, up 310 basis points against 2013.

US/Canada

Fourth quarter 2014 sales were 4% lower than the prior year period on 3% lower prices and 1% lower volumes. More than half of the price variance was due to unfavorable customer mix and the remainder was due to increased competitive pressures from imports given the strengthened US dollar. The volume variance was primarily due to a 17% decline in PPA, which outweighed a 3% increase in Specialty Ingredients driven by strong volumes for the INNOVALT® asphalt business, which were up 49% for the 2014 quarter compared to the same period in 2013.

Full year sales were 2% lower than 2013 with price and volume each down 1%. The volume decline was primarily due to a 9% decline in PPA volumes as a result of the second half PPA supply issues. Specialty Ingredients volumes were up 1% despite soft market demand due to a strong second half recovery in the INNOVALT® asphalt business which was up 24% for the year compared to 2013.

For the quarter, operating income of $17 million was $4 million below the fourth quarter 2013 on lower volumes and pricing and higher costs. Operating income margin was 12% for the fourth quarter 2014, down 240 basis points compared to the prior year period.

2014 operating income of $82 million was up $5 million against 2013 due to improved product mix. Operating income margin was 14% for 2014, up 120 basis points compared to 2013.

Mexico

For the fourth quarter 2014, Mexico Specialty Phosphates sales decreased 9% versus the comparable 2013 quarter, with prices down 5% and volumes down 4%. PPA volumes were up 27% year-over-year and strong throughout 2014, helping offset the US/Canada PPA shortfalls, but Specialty Ingredients fourth quarter volumes were down 26% year-over-year due to increased competitive pressures, high distributor inventory levels and order pattern at a key customer.

Full year Mexico Specialty Phosphates sales decreased 1% compared to 2013 on 2% lower prices, due to increased competition in the Latin American export markets, and 1% higher volumes.

Fourth quarter 2014 operating income of $7 million was level with the comparable 2013 quarter, and margins at 18% were up 180 basis points compared with the prior year.

Operating income of $29 million for full year 2014 was up $17 million compared to 2013 due to improved operations and yields, and lower costs. Operating income margin was 17% for 2014, two and a half times the 7% recorded in 2013.

GTSP & Other

For the fourth quarter, GTSP & Other sales (primarily Granulated Triple Superphosphate fertilizer co-product) were up $7 million versus fourth quarter 2013 on 38% higher volumes and 32% higher selling prices.

GTSP & Other sales were up $11 million for full year 2014 compared to 2013 on 22% higher volumes but 6% lower selling prices.

The fourth quarter 2014 operating loss of $1 million was $4 million better than the prior year quarter due to the noted higher volumes and selling prices. Operating income margin of (5)% was significantly better than the (45)% recorded in the fourth quarter 2013.

The full year 2014 operating loss of $4 million was $1 million better than 2013 due to improved operations and lower costs which led to break even operating income for the last 3 quarters of 2014. Operating income margin of (5)% improved by 190 basis points compared to 2013.

Recent Trends and Outlook

Specialty Phosphates volumes were better than expected in the fourth quarter 2014 compared to the prior year period. The main contributors were INNOVALT® sales for asphalt markets, which were up 49% for the quarter and finished up 24% for the full year compared to 2013, a recovery in nutrition sales which were up 14% year-over-year and 16% sequentially, and Cal-Rise® volumes which were up 5% for the quarter and 10% for the full year. These positive effects, however, were overshadowed by lower volumes from reduced US/Canada PPA availability, lower export sales, continued weak market demand and increased competitive pressures from imports given the recent strength in the US dollar. This resulted in a net 1% decline overall in Specialty Phosphates volumes for the fourth quarter 2014 compared to the prior year period. Export sales were down 8% year-over-year for the fourth quarter primarily due to reduced demand in Chinese seafood markets and shipment delays caused by the dockworkers slowdown affecting US West Coast ports. These negative fourth quarter events reduced the year to date September export growth rate of 7% to a full year growth rate of just 2%.

Due to the second half volume softness, Specialty Phosphates full year 2014 volume was flat compared to 2013, which was slightly better than an expected decline of 1-2% the company projected in its third quarter 2014 earnings release. Specialty Phosphates volumes are expected to grow by 2-3% for full year 2015 compared to 2014 based on the recovery of the PPA business and continued contributions from innovation and geographic expansion. However, market demand in the US and Canada home markets is not expected to recover from second half 2014 levels.

Specialty Phosphates operating income margins were 13% for the fourth quarter 2014, above the high end of the expected 11-12% range, leading to full year 2014 margins at the mid-point of the 14-15% range that had been targeted since the beginning of 2014. The sequential increase in cost of goods sold for higher raw material prices and lower production rates was $3 million compared to the expected $5 million due to higher year-end inventory levels, so the residual $2 million expense is expected to hit the US & Canada P&L in the first quarter 2015. This, combined with a planned maintenance outage in Coatzacoalcos that typically occurs every 12 to 18 months and typically costs $2-3 million, is expected to reduce Specialty Phosphates margins by approximately 100 basis points sequentially for the first quarter 2015.

Full year 2015 Specialty Phosphates operating margins are expected to be in the 13-14% range. The margin decline is primarily caused by a $6 million cost increase on the one annual PPA supply contract that reset on January 1, 2015. Given the increased attractiveness of the US market because of the strong US dollar, the current selling price environment won't allow for price increases to cover this cost increase. Despite this temporary setback on margins, the cash flow generation capability of the business remains strong.

Fertilizer market prices showed some decline early in the fourth quarter 2014, but then quickly rebounded back to third quarter 2014 levels. Market phosphate rock prices were fairly stable sequentially in the fourth quarter 2014 and are expected to remain stable for the first quarter 2015. Sulfur market prices decreased 5% sequentially in the fourth quarter 2014, but increased 14% for the first quarter 2015.

GTSP & Other recorded a $1 million operating loss for the fourth quarter 2014, which was within the expected range. The company expects a similar operating result of between break even and a $1 million operating loss during the first quarter 2015.

Net debt increased sequentially by $17 million in the fourth quarter 2014 to $100 million primarily due to $15 million of share repurchases.

Capital Expenditures

Capital expenditures were $7 million in the fourth quarter and $28 million for full year 2014. Approximately 70% of the full year spending was for maintenance and the remaining 30% was for strategic growth initiatives. The majority of the strategic growth investments were focused on capacity expansions at Nashville, as well as on improving capabilities, yields and capacity at Coatzacoalcos. Management expects 2015 capital expenditures of approximately $35 million.