PITTSBURGH - Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE: KOP), an integrated global provider of treated wood products, wood treatment chemicals and carbon compounds, today reported net income attributable to Koppers for the first quarter of $25.9 million, a first-quarter record, or $1.18 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $1.4 million, or $0.07 per diluted share, in the prior year quarter.

Adjusted net income and adjusted earnings per share (EPS) were $22.3 million and $1.02 per share for the first quarter of 2021, compared to $9.9 million and $0.47 per share in the prior year quarter, respectively. Adjustments to pre-tax income totaled $5.2 million of net benefits for the first quarter of 2021, compared with $10.6 million of net expenses for the first quarter of 2020. The adjustments for both periods primarily reflected non-cash effects related to mark-to-market commodity hedging, restructuring activities and non-cash impacts related to LIFO adjustments.

Consolidated sales, a first-quarter record, were $407.5 million, an increase of $5.6 million, or 1.4 percent, compared with $401.9 million in the prior year quarter. Excluding a $9.6 million favorable impact from foreign currency translation, sales decreased by $4.0 million, or 1.0 percent, from the prior year.

The Performance Chemicals (PC) segment continued the trend of achieving strong sales growth and increased profitability due to ongoing strength in consumer spending during the pandemic for home repair and remodeling projects, as well as increased demand in international markets.

The Railroad and Utility Products and Services (RUPS) business reported sales that were similar to prior year, excluding a favorable impact from foreign currency translation. The higher year-over-year profitability reflects a favorable product mix and a more stable operating environment for maintenance-of-way businesses that were most significantly affected in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, partially offset by lower commercial crosstie volumes.

The Carbon Materials and Chemicals (CMC) segment generated lower sales compared with the prior year due to reduced demand as a result of the ongoing pandemic, which had minimal impact on prior year volumes. However, the increase in year-over-year profitability demonstrates the benefits of a lower cost structure, positioning this business for further margin expansion as demand stabilizes.

President and CEO Leroy Ball said, 'As expected, the first quarter reflected earnings growth in each of our three business segments. PC continues to be the driving force as the North American home improvement market sees sustained, healthy demand and a strong backlog of projects. While the earnings growth in our RUPS and CMC segments were more modest, their contributions helped to support the strongest first quarter on record. This first-quarter performance previews the inherent strength of the Koppers integrated business model when our three business segments are firing on all cylinders.'

About Koppers

Koppers, with corporate headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is an integrated global provider of treated wood products, wood treatment chemicals and carbon compounds. Our products and services are used in a variety of niche applications in a diverse range of end-markets, including the railroad, specialty chemical, utility, residential lumber, agriculture, aluminum, steel, rubber, and construction industries. We serve our customers through a comprehensive global manufacturing and distribution network, with facilities located in North America, South America, Australasia and Europe. The stock of Koppers Holdings Inc. is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol 'KOP.'

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This press release contains certain non-GAAP financial measures. Koppers believes that EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, adjusted net income, adjusted earnings per share, net debt and net leverage ratio provide information useful to investors in understanding the underlying operational performance of the company, its business and performance trends, and facilitate comparisons between periods and with other corporations in similar industries. The exclusion of certain items permits evaluation and a comparison of results for ongoing business operations, and it is on this basis that Koppers management internally assesses the company's performance. In addition, the Board of Directors and executive management team use adjusted EBITDA as a performance measure under the company's annual incentive plans.

Although Koppers believes that these non-GAAP financial measures enhance investors' understanding of its business and performance, these non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered an alternative to GAAP basis financial measures and should be read in conjunction with the relevant GAAP financial measure. Other companies in a similar industry may define or calculate these measures differently than the company, limiting their usefulness as comparative measures. Because of these limitations, these non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered in isolation or as substitutes for performance measures calculated in accordance with GAAP.

For the company's guidance, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS excludes restructuring, impairment, non-cash LIFO charges, acquisition-related costs, and non-cash mark-to-market commodity hedging. As described above, the forecast amounts for these items cannot be reasonably estimated due to their nature but may be significant. For that reason, the company is unable to provide GAAP estimates at this time.

Safe Harbor Statement

Certain statements in this press release are 'forward-looking statements' within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and may include, but are not limited to, statements about sales levels, acquisitions, restructuring, declines in the value of Koppers assets and the effect of any resulting impairment charges, profitability and anticipated expenses and cash outflows. All forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. All statements contained herein that are not clearly historical in nature are forward-looking, and words such as 'outlook,' 'guidance,' 'forecast,' 'believe,' 'anticipate,' 'expect,' 'estimate,' 'may,' 'will,' 'should,' 'continue,' 'plan,' 'potential,' 'intend,' 'likely,' or other similar words or phrases are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement contained herein, in other press releases, written statements or other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or in Koppers communications and discussions with investors and analysts in the normal course of business through meetings, phone calls and conference calls, regarding expectations with respect to sales, earnings, cash flows, operating efficiencies, restructurings, the benefits of acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures or other matters as well as financings and debt reduction, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and contingencies.

Many of these risks, uncertainties and contingencies are beyond our control, and may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from anticipated results, performance or achievements. Factors that might affect such forward-looking statements include, among other things, the impact of changes in commodity prices, such as oil and copper, on product margins; general economic and business conditions; existing and future adverse effects as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic; disruption in the U.S. and global financial markets; potential difficulties in protecting our intellectual property; the ratings on our debt and our ability to repay or refinance our outstanding indebtedness as it matures; our ability to operate within the limitations of our debt covenants; potential impairment of our goodwill and/or long-lived assets; demand for Koppers goods and services; competitive conditions; interest rate and foreign currency rate fluctuations; availability and costs of key raw materials; unfavorable resolution of claims against us, as well as those discussed more fully elsewhere in this release and in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Koppers, particularly our latest annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequent filings by Koppers with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statements in this release speak only as of the date of this release, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after that date or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

Contact:

Michael J. Zugay

Tel: 412 227 2231

Email: ZugayMJ@koppers.com

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