WILMINGTON -
Additional information regarding first-quarter fiscal 2022 earnings will be shared during a conference call webcast with securities analysts on
Preliminary fiscal 2022 first-quarter financial results
Ashland's financial results during the quarter reflected previously communicated key drivers: Continued strong end-market demand.
Persistent supply-chain and labor-availability challenges impacting shipments and on-time order delivery.
Lag impact on cost-inflation recovery from pricing actions.
Sales were approximately
Ashland expects income from continuing operations during the first fiscal quarter of approximately
Ashland's Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be approximately
For the full-year outlook, the company remains focused on the visibility it has and the things it can control. Ashland expects the current COVID impact to abate, enabling continued end-market demand recovery. Pricing actions the company has taken and continues to take should result in margin normalization. Logistics and transportation expectations remain pragmatic with only marginal improvement expected during the fiscal year. The cost-inflation outlook and the need for future pricing actions remain the greatest areas of uncertainty. As such, based on current inflation and pricing expectations, the company's financial outlook for sales in the range of
'We are encouraged by the strong demand in each of our segments and the disciplined pricing actions being demonstrated by our commercial teams,' said
'We expect underlying demand to remain strong and continue to take actions to build inventories to mitigate supply-chain and shipping challenges,' continued Novo. 'Pricing actions should cover current cost inflation and we are ready to take further action to recover any additional cost inflation. Assuming end-market demand remains strong and we don't experience increased inflationary pressure in raw-material, freight, energy and other costs, we continue to expect fiscal-year sales and Adjusted EBITDA to be within the previously communicated ranges. If cost inflation continues to escalate and we experience additional lag impact following pricing actions, our outlook may have to be updated. I look forward to discussing our results and outlook in more detail on the upcoming call with securities analysts.'
The information in this release is preliminary, based upon information available at the time of this news release, and actual results may differ.
Use of Non-GAAP Measures
Ashland believes that by removing the impact of depreciation and amortization and excluding certain non-cash charges, amounts spent on interest and taxes and certain other charges that are highly variable from year to year, adjusted EBITDA provides Ashland's investors with performance measures that reflect the impact to operations from trends in changes in sales, margin and operating expenses, providing a perspective not immediately apparent from net income. The adjustments Ashland makes to derive the non-GAAP measure of adjusted EBITDA exclude items which may cause short-term fluctuations in net income and which Ashland does not consider to be the fundamental attributes or primary drivers of its business. Adjusted EBITDA provides disclosure on the same basis as that used by Ashland's management to evaluate financial performance on a consolidated and reportable segment basis and provide consistency in our financial reporting, facilitate internal and external comparisons of Ashland's historical operating performance and its business units, and provide continuity to investors for comparability purposes.
Adjusted diluted earnings per share is a performance measure used by Ashland and is defined by Ashland as earnings (loss) from continuing operations, adjusted for identified key items and divided by the number of outstanding diluted shares of common stock. Ashland believes this measure provides investors additional insights into operational performance by providing earnings and diluted earnings per share metrics that exclude the effect of the identified key items and tax specific key items.
Adjusted diluted earnings per share, excluding intangibles amortization expense metric enables Ashland to demonstrate the impact of non-cash intangibles amortization expense on earnings per share, in addition to key items previously mentioned. Ashland's management believe this presentation is helpful to illustrate how previous acquisitions impact applicable period results.
About Ashland
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Ashland has identified some of these forward-looking statements with words such as 'anticipates,' 'believes,' 'expects,' 'estimates,' 'is likely,' 'predicts,' 'projects,' 'forecasts,' 'objectives,' 'may,' 'will,' 'should,' 'plans' and 'intends' and the negative of these words or other comparable terminology. Ashland may from time to time make forward-looking statements in its annual reports, quarterly reports and other filings with the
Ashland's expectations and assumptions include, without limitation, internal forecasts and analyses of current and future market conditions and trends, management plans and strategies, operating efficiencies and economic conditions (such as prices, supply and demand, cost of raw materials, and the ability to recover raw-material cost increases through price increases), and risks and uncertainties associated with the following: the impact of acquisitions and/or divestitures Ashland has made or may make (including the possibility that Ashland may not realize the anticipated benefits from such transactions); Ashland's substantial indebtedness (including the possibility that such indebtedness and related restrictive covenants may adversely affect Ashland's future cash flows, results of operations, financial condition and its ability to repay debt); severe weather, natural disasters, public health crises (including the current COVID-19 pandemic), cyber events and legal proceedings and claims (including product recalls, environmental and asbestos matters); the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the geographies in which we operate, the end markets we serve and on our supply chain and customers, and without limitation, risks and uncertainties affecting Ashland that are described in Ashland's most recent Form 10-K (including Item 1A Risk Factors) filed with the
Contact:
Tel: +1 (302) 594-5010
Email: samrozek@ashland.com
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