Eagle Materials Inc. reported financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2016 ended June 30, 2015. Notable items for the quarter include (all comparisons, unless otherwise noted, are with the prior year’s first quarter):
- First quarter revenues of $285.0 million, up 7 percent.
- Earnings before interest and income taxes of $60.4 million, up 1 percent.
- Net Earnings of $37.8 million, up slightly.
- EBITDA(1) of $84.6 million, up 10 percent.
- Net earnings per diluted share of $0.75, flat with the prior year.
First quarter net sales prices improved across nearly all businesses, with the most notable increases in the company’s cement and concrete businesses. Extraordinarily wet weather in many of its cement markets, including Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado, adversely impacted the timing of cement sales volumes during the first quarter; however, underlying demand for cement continues to remain strong, the company said. “In addition, all of our cement facilities completed their planned annual outages during the first quarter and cement maintenance costs were approximately $3 million higher than the prior year’s first quarter,” the company noted.
Cement revenues for the first quarter, including joint venture and intersegment revenues, totaled $128.2 million, which was slightly higher than the same quarter last year. The average net sales price for this quarter was $98.39 per ton, 9 percent higher than the same quarter last year.
Cement sales volumes for the quarter were 1.2 million tons, 7 percent lower than the same quarter a year ago. The most significant decline in cement sales volumes occurred in Texas primarily associated with well-above average rainfall during the first quarter.
Operating earnings from cement for the first quarter were $25.7 million, a 25 percent increase from the same quarter a year ago. The earnings improvement was driven primarily by improved average net cement sales prices, lower energy, raw materials and purchased cement costs partially offset by lower cement sales volumes and $3 million of increased costs associated with a shift in the timing of all the annual maintenance outages at our cement facilities to the first quarter.
Concrete and aggregates reported operating earnings of $1.9 million for the first quarter, a 42 percent improvement from the same quarter a year ago, reflecting improved concrete and aggregates pricing along with improved concrete sales volumes. The company’s concrete and aggregates business in Austin, Texas, was also hampered by wet weather during the quarter, with aggregates sales volumes down 30 percent.
Oil and gas proppants reported first quarter revenues of $22.8 million, a 104 percent increase from the prior year, which reflects the impact of the acquisition of CRS Proppants during the third quarter of the prior fiscal year partially offset by lower first quarter frac sand sales volumes at its legacy business.
The first quarter’s loss of $5.6 million compares to an operating loss of $0.6 million in the same quarter a year ago reflecting a $7.0 million increase in first quarter depreciation, depletion and amortization due to the start-up of operating facilities and the acquisition of CRS Proppants in the fiscal third quarter of the prior year.
The first quarter’s operating loss of $5.6 million compares to an operating loss of $5.9 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015. Frac sand sales volumes in the first quarter were down 8 percent compared to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015 and average net frac sand sales price declined 23 percent compared to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015.