Waste Management Earnings Fall in Second Quarter

Waste Management Inc.’s net earnings declined 12.2 percent in its second quarter, resulting from restructuring and other one-time charges.

Net income for the Houston-based waste and recycling company totaled $208 million, or 45 cents per diluted share, compared with $237 million, or 50 cents per diluted share, for year-ago period. Results for the 2012 quarter ended June 30 included about $32 million of after-tax costs – $26 million primarily related to asset impairments and restructuring charges, and approximately $6 million connected to the partial withdrawal from a Teamsters' multiemployer pension plan. Excluding those items, net income would have reached $240 million, or 52 cents per diluted share, the company said in a news release.

Revenue for the second quarter rose 3.3 percent to $3.46 billion compared with $3.35 billion in the 2011 period.

For the first half, Waste Management’s net income fell 10 percent to $379 million compared with $423 million in 2011. Revenue climbed 5 percent to $6.75 billion from $6.45 billion in 2011.

"We had a very solid second quarter as we grew both our revenue and adjusted net income,” said David Steiner, Waste Management president and CEO. “Our core solid waste operations continue to perform well, and margins in our core businesses improved by 60 basis points.”  He said earnings were hurt by commodity prices, and income for both its recycling and waste-to-energy operations fell from a year ago.

“We have become more cautious on our full-year guidance, which we now see as between $2.15 to $2.20 per diluted share, based upon [7 cents] of headwinds from recycling and waste-to-energy in the second half of the year,” Steiner said.