Albemarle Q1 Profit Beats Street

(RTTNews) - Albemarle Corp. (ALB) Wednesday reported a first-quarter profit that trumped Wall Street estimates by a penny, driven by a more-than-expected increase in revenues.

Albemarle's first-quarter net income rose to $133.6 million or $1.26 per share from $131.76 million or $1.18 per share last year.

Adjusted earnings for the quarter dropped to $1.23 per share from $1.30 per share last year. On average, 16 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimate earnings of $1.22 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.

First-quarter sales rose 6% to $832.1 million from $821.6 million last year. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $817.04 million fort he quarter.

CEO Luke Kissam said, "Lithium pricing was up year-over-year, while Catalysts and Bromine Specialties performed well, with both benefiting from increases in volume and price. We remain confident in our expectations for the full year, and committed to our long-term strategy that positions us for continued growth."

Lithium sales dropped 2.1% to $291.9 million due to lower sales volume driven by the impact of a rain event in Chile. Bromine Specialties sales rose 10.4% to $249.1 million, while catalysts sales slipped 3.5% to $251.6 million.

Looking forward to full year, the company confirmed its adjusted earnings outlook of $6.10 to $6.50 per share and revenues of $3.65 to $3.85 billion. Analysts currently estimate earnings of $6.21 per share and revenues of $3.68 billion for the year.

ALB closed Wednesday's trading at $72.58, down $3.27 or 4.31%, on the NYSE. The stock, however, gained $2.14 or 2.95% in the after-hours trade.