Westlake Chemical Q3 Profit Down, Despite Higher Sales - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Westlake Chemical Corp. (WLK) Tuesday reported a decline in its third-quarter profit to $167.8 million or $1.25 per share from $170.3 million or $1.27 per share last year.

The company's earnings were affected by Westlake Chemical Partners formation and initial public offering costs and Vinnolit acquisition-related costs of $21.6 million, after tax, an elevated effective tax rate and several unplanned outages.

On average, 10 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $1.56 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Quarterly sales rose to $1.25 billion from $1.00 billion last year, while analysts were looking for sales of $1.19 billion.

The sales growth was mainly attributable to sales contributed by Vinnolit, which the firm had acquired in July.