Eight Takeaways from Clean Harbors’ Second Quarter Results

Net income for Clean Harbors in the second quarter ended June 30 dropped 63.8 percent to $10.4 million, or 18 cents per diluted share, compared with $28.7 million, or 47 cents per share, in the 2014 period. The company took an impairment charge of $32 million because of business factors in its Oil and Gas Field Services segment. Excluding the impairment charge, Clean Harbors reported adjusted net income in the latest quarter of $42.4 million.

Revenues for the quarter rose 9.1 percent to $936.2 million from $858.5 million, according to a news release.

For the first half, net profits fell to $3.31 million, or 6 cents per diluted share, compared with $37.6 million, or 62 cents per diluted share, in the year-ago period.

First-half revenue slipped 2.1 percent to $1.67 billion from $1.71 billion in 2014.

Chairman and CEO Alan McKim’s take on the results: “Substantial emergency response activity and strong contributions from several of our businesses more than offset weakness in our energy-related businesses and the adverse effects of foreign currency translation.”

The company’s emergency response-related work generated revenue of about $170 million. Landfill volumes dropped 29 percent from a year ago, while incineration utilization remained stable at 91 percent.

Second-half outlook and guidance: “We enter the second half of 2015 confident of our prospects for the full year, as we build on momentum across several businesses,” McKim said. The company is on track to carve out its Oil and Gas Field Services and Lodging Services as separate segments with the potential to go public in 2016. Clean Harbors is reaffirming its previously announced adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) guidance range of $530 million to $570 million.

St. Louis-based Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. Inc. said in its report on Clean Harbors that revenue and EBITDA and earnings per share were above consensus. “The significant beat is supported by $170 (million) of emergency response revenue but also better than forecast (SK Environmental) and Used Oil margins.”