Canadian Methanol producer, Methanex said its adjusted net income climbed 21.21 per cent from a year ago quarter for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2014.
Methanex posted adjusted net income of $80 million or $0.85 per share on a diluted basis as against adjusted net income of $66 million or $0.69 per share on a diluted basis for the third quarter of 2014.
For the fourth quarter of 2014, Methanex which is the largest global producer of Methanol reported adjusted EBITDA of $150 million compared with adjusted EBITDA of $137 million in same quarter of 2013.
Methanex also announced that earlier this week, its Geismar 1 plant successfully started up on schedule and is producing methanol.
The Geismar plant was relocated from Methanex’s production site in Punta Arenas, Chile, and is expected to operate at full production rates over the coming weeks.
The Geismar 1 plant was completed over roughly a two and a half year period, and the total cost for completion of the two Geismar plants is estimated at $1.4 billion.
“This marks another key milestone in our 2013 commitment to grow our operating capacity by approximately three million tons over three years,” CEO John Floren said.
He added, “We also continue to make excellent progress on the construction of our one million tons Geismar 2 plant, and remain on target for methanol production in the first quarter of 2016."
According to Floren, a steep drop in oil and downstream product prices lowered affordability for methanol in a few applications and this, along with strong industry supply, pressured global methanol pricing.
He expects that Methanex will continue to see stable demand from chemical applications and the recently lower methanol pricing has helped to restore the affordability of methanol for energy applications.
During the quarter, Methanex returned over $100 million in cash to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases, bringing total cash returned in 2014 to just over $340 million.
In the fourth quarter, Methanex issued $600 million in new bonds, bringing its total cash on hand as at December 31, 2014 to over $900 million.
“With our cash on hand, undrawn credit facility, robust balance sheet, and strong future cash flow generation, we are well positioned to meet our financial commitments,” Floren informed. (AR)
