Waste Management Q3 Results Top Estimates - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Waste Management Inc. (WM) reported rise in third-quarter of 2013 net income attributable to the company to $291 million or $0.62 per share, from $214 million or $0.46 per share in the third quarter of 2012.

Income from operations grew $77 million and income from operations margin grew 150 basis points.

Results in the third quarter of 2013 included about $15 million of after-tax costs, primarily from asset impairments. Excluding these items, net income would have been $306 million or $0.65 per share, compared to adjusted earnings per share of $0.61 in the third quarter of 2012. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.62 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Operating revenues for the third quarter of 2013 were $3.62 billion up from $3.46 billion for the same 2012 period. Revenue increased by 4.6%, or $160 million, from the prior year period, primarily from acquisitions and internal revenue growth from yield. Nine analysts had consensus revenue estimate of $3.59 billion for the quarter.

David Steiner, President and Chief Executive Officer of Waste Management said, "These strong results were driven by our continued focus on increasing internal revenue growth from yield and controlling costs."

The company noted that it is on track to achieve its full-year goals, despite an estimated $0.13 per share of full-year headwinds from its recycling operations, which is $0.11 more than anticipated at the beginning of the year.

The company said it confident that it can meet its adjusted earnings per share guidance range of between $2.15 and $2.20 for the full year, and now believes it will generate free cash flow between $1.2 billion and $1.3 billion, excluding proceeds from divestitures. Analysts expect the company to report earnings of $2.16 per share for fiscal 2013.