Shares of Eastman Chemical Co. jumped more than 17 percent Friday, a day after the Kingsport, Tenn. company reported a first-quarter profit and said it expected second-quarter earnings per share to be “similar to” the current analyst expectation of 71 cents per share.
Read more via Eastman Chemical shares jump 17 percent : Business : Knoxville News Sentinel.
KINGSPORT, Tenn., April 23, 2009 – Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN) today announced earnings from continuing operations of $0.03 per diluted share for first quarter 2009 versus $1.46 per diluted share for first quarter 2008. Excluding the items described in the following paragraph, first-quarter 2009 earnings from continuing operations were $0.25 per diluted share, while first-quarter 2008 earnings from continuing operations were $1.48 per diluted share. For reconciliations to reported company and segment earnings, see Tables 3 and 5 in the accompanying first-quarter 2009 financial tables.
Included in the results for first quarter 2009 was a restructuring charge of $26 million for the previously announced reduction in force of approximately 300 people. Included in the results for first quarter 2008 were asset impairments and restructuring charges of $17 million, accelerated depreciation costs of $2 million, and net deferred tax benefits of $11 million.
"In this very difficult economic environment, we remain focused on taking the actions necessary to deliver operating cash flows that will more than support both our dividend and capital expenditures,” said Brian Ferguson, chairman and CEO. "We made good progress in the first quarter with solid operating cash flows, and are on track to meet this objective."
(In millions, except per share amounts) 1Q2009 1Q2008 Sales revenue $1,129 $1,727 Earnings per diluted share from continuing operations $0.03 $1.46 Earnings per diluted share from continuing operations excluding accelerated depreciation costs, asset impairments and restructuring charges and net deferred tax benefits*
$0.25 $1.48
Net cash provided by (used in)operating activities $82 ($53) *For reconciliations to reported company and segment sales revenue and earnings see Tables 3, 4 and 5 in the accompanying first-quarter 2009 financial tables.
Sales revenue for first quarter 2009 was $1.1 billion, a 35 percent decrease compared with first quarter 2008. Sales revenue for both first quarter 2009 and first quarter 2008 included contract ethylene sales resulting from the fourth-quarter 2006 divestiture of the polyethylene business. Also included in first-quarter 2008 sales revenue were contract polymer intermediates sales resulting from the fourth-quarter 2007 divestiture of PET polymers manufacturing facilities and related businesses in Mexico and Argentina. Excluding these items for both periods, sales revenue declined by 30 percent due to a decline in sales volume of 19 percent primarily attributed to the global recession and lower selling prices. For reconciliations to reported company and segment sales revenue, see Table 4 in the accompanying first-quarter 2009 financial tables. Operating earnings in first quarter 2009 were $25 million compared with operating earnings of $168 million in first quarter 2008. Excluding asset impairments and restructuring charges in first quarter 2009 and 2008 and accelerated depreciation costs in first quarter 2008, operating earnings were $51 million in first quarter 2009 compared with $187 million in first quarter 2008. Operating results declined in all segments except Fibers because of weak demand which resulted in lower sales volume, continued low capacity utilization, and higher unit costs. In addition, lower selling prices were offset by lower raw material and energy costs. Operating results benefited from continued implementation of cost reduction actions. Continue reading “Eastman Announces First-Quarter 2009 Financial Results” »
Kingsport, Tennessee could be in the same situation as Elkhart, IN if something happens to Eastman Chemical. What does it take to wake up our politicians and get them to be more diversified in the industry here?
In hard-hit Elkhart, leaders and citizens are exploring all economic options
In a sense, the entire community is hitting the reset button. With the virtual collapse of the RV industry, long the mainstay of the economy, nearly 20 percent of workers in the area are unemployed, about triple the number a year ago. Meantime, the jobless benefits system, food banks and emergency assistance programs are struggling to meet demand, and home foreclosures are climbing. Elkhart — dubbed the “RV Capital of the World” — is scrambling to attract new industries and to retrain its workforce for new occupations. The task is more daunting amid a national economic crisis.
“We’ve not had to do it, and I guess you don’t do things when you don’t have to,” said Elkhart Mayor Dick Moore. “I think we’ve learned a lesson, and we’ve learned that we’ve got to be more diversified in the industry here.”
Read more via A city struggles: ‘We are back at square one’ – The Elkhart Project- msnbc.com.
HOUSTON (Reuters) – LyondellBasell, the world’s third-largest petrochemical company whose U.S. operations are under bankruptcy protection, said on Wednesday it would cut 3,000 jobs, or 17 percent of its workers, and reduce expenses by an additional $500 million by 2010.
LyondellBasell Industries, based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, said it planned to reduce its contract workers by 30 percent, or 2,000, and close 10 plants and 20 offices.
Read more via LyondellBasell cutting jobs, closing plants | Reuters.
Eastman Chemical Company followed through on their promise of layoffs today, nearly a month since they first announced that 200 to 300 positions would be eliminated from the company world-wide.
Representatives from Eastman held a brief press conference Monday at Meadowview Conference Center in Kingsport, announcing the beginning of permanent layoffs and a list of more changes this year.
This week, workers at Eastman’s Kingsport plant, one of the region’s largest employers, will receive notices informing them of their severance. An estimated 200 of 7,000 employees will be eliminated.
Read more via Eastman Comes Through On Promise Of Layoffs | TriCities.
Tennessee’s exports have grown substantially over the past few years, but where do they come from? Do those exports come from all parts of the state, or are they concentrated in certain regions? We can examine this question by looking at the size and composition of the foreign sales that come from each of Tennessee’s MSAs (metropolitan statistical areas). An MSA is composed of a major urban area: the central city and the counties that are economically connected to it. Tennessee has 10 MSAs. How are the state’s exports spread among these MSAs?
To begin, most Tennessee MSAs export more, absolutely and relatively, than they did 10 years ago. All the state’s MSAs have risen in the export rankings of American MSAs over that period, with the single exception of Johnson City. And this is a statistical illusion because the Tri-Cities region of East Tennessee was separated into two MSAs in the interim.
Wait, there is much more to see. Click here to see the full report
The latest amounts of potentially toxic material released from businesses and power plants in communities throughout Tennessee and the nation has been made available by the EPA.
The 2007 information that was just made public can be looked up within a zip code, county or state on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s website.
The top 10 counties listed below have the largest “Total on and off site disposal or other releases”
Rank | County | Pounds Released |
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 | HUMPHREYS MONTGOMERY SHELBY STEWART ROANE SULLIVAN ANDERSON SUMNER MADISON LOUDON | 27,411,705 25,783,169 9,308,091 8,323,971 7,026,341 5,762,825 5,629,716 3,613,588 2,941,286 2,599,323 |
The breakdown of Sullivan County, TN Toxic Chemical Release for 2007 by companies is below. Eastman and Domtar are the largest contributors of Toxic Releases in Sullivan County. Both of these two firms are located in Kingsport, TN
VOLuntarilyConservative blog has got a good point concerning the local economy. I will have a post soon that will provide some interesting data about the local economy.
There have been several major events related to the local economy here in Knoxville – Goody’s and IPIX going belly-up being at the top of the charts. Blount County has also been hit hard, with Alcoa experiencing lay-offs, the boat manufacturing plants and Denso cutting back hours, and a recent report (along with confirmation to me from anonymous sources familiar with the situation) that Clayton Homes may be in serious trouble.
And while massive lay-offs at The University of Tennessee may create more problems, Knox and Blount Counties are fortunate to have multiple large employers in their municipal boundaries. Other places close to home are not so lucky.
Read more via VOLuntarilyConservative: More Signs of Trouble for the East Tennessee Economy.
Eastman Chemical is the largest employer in Tennessee and has just announced that they are cutting another $100 million in costs.
Eastman Chemical announced on December 17, 2008, that they were going to reduce 2009 costs in excess of $100 million, of which $80 million would come from labor-related costs. One of the items included in these cost reductions was no 2009 wage and salary increases.
KINGSPORT, Tenn., March 9, 2009 – Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN) today announced it is taking additional actions to further reduce costs by more than $100 million in response to the ongoing global economic recession. These actions, in addition to those announced in December, increase Eastman’s expected total cost savings in 2009 to more than $200 million. Eastman is taking the following actions to achieve these savings:
- Reducing base pay for U.S. employees by 5 percent effective March 30, 2009, with equivalent cost reductions in bargaining unit sites and locations outside the U.S.
- Implementing a global targeted reduction in force of between 200-300 employees within the next 4-6 weeks
- Reducing non-critical maintenance costs
- Reducing logistics costs
- Further reducing discretionary spending
“The severity of the current economic environment led to the actions we are announcing today,” said Brian Ferguson, chairman and CEO. “Despite our expectation that sales volume will continue to be at depressed levels, we remain committed to taking the necessary actions to deliver solid operating cash flow in 2009 that will more than support both our dividend and capital expenditures.”
In addition to taking actions to reduce costs, the company lowered its budgeted 2009 capital expenditures to between $300 and $350 million. The company also expects to generate approximately $100 million of cash from working capital in 2009, assuming continued difficult economic conditions and raw material and energy costs similar to current levels.
Commenting on the outlook for full-year 2009 earnings, Ferguson said, “While visibility into global demand continues to be limited, the actions we are taking to reduce costs position us to better weather the storm. Assuming a modest improvement in demand that increases our capacity utilization from the current rate of approximately 71 percent to between 75-80 percent for the remainder of the year, we expect our full-year 2009 earnings per share will be between $2.00-$3.00 excluding charges related to cost cutting actions.”
The cost reduction actions announced today will result in a first-quarter 2009 pre-tax restructuring charge of approximately $30 million.
Eastman Kodak, the company that founded Eastman Chemical is taking steps to address the impact of global recession.
At one time Eastman Kodak had around 125,000 employees worldwide. Currently it is about 27,000 before the new layoffs.