Methanex Corp. second-quarter earnings rise 27% as demand increases
July 25, 2012 - 8:23 PM
VANCOUVER - Methanex Corporation (TSX:MX), the world's largest supplier of methanol, says its second-quarter net income rose 27 per cent as demand and pricing for the industrial product grew.
The Vancouver-based company said late Wednesday that net income attributable to shareholders was $52 million, up from $41 million in the year-earlier period.
On an adjusted basis, the company reported income of $44 million, or 47 cents per diluted share, compared to $39 million, or 41 cents per diluted share a year ago.
"Overall methanol demand has remained good and the pricing environment has been relatively stable, despite some demand softness in certain derivatives," said Bruce Aitken, president and CEO of Methanex.
Methanol is used in many industrial and everyday consumer products, used in everything from paint to plywood to gasoline.
During the quarter, the company boosted its dividend by nine per cent to 18.5 cents per share.
Aitken also provided an optimistic outlook for demand for coming quarters.
"Industry demand growth is expected to significantly exceed new capacity additions over the next few years and we have a number of growth projects in place to capitalize on the positive industry conditions."
The company recently restarted a second plant in New Zealand and says it is investigating other options to increase annual production capacity by up to 900,000 tonnes by the end of 2013.
Methanex also announced Wednesday that it has made a final decision to relocate an idle facility in Chile to Louisiana.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2012