WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Protective and decorative coatings company PPG Industries, Inc. (PPG) reported Thursday a 5 percent year-over-year increase in profit for the fourth quarter, boosted by quarterly sales growth amid higher pricing to counter high raw material cost inflation. Both earnings per share and quarterly revenues topped analysts' expectations. The company also said it expects first quarter 2012 growth to remain similar to the fourth quarter 2011. 'PPG achieved record earnings per share each quarter this year by focusing on strong execution in its global businesses, aggressive cost management and amplified cash deployment. In so doing, we delivered the best full year earnings per share in PPG's history,' Chairman and CEO Charles Bunch said in a statement. The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based company reported net income of $216 million or $1.39 per share for the fourth quarter, higher than $205 million or $1.24 per share in the prior-year quarter. On average, 15 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $1.27 per share for the fourth quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items. Net sales for the quarter grew 4 percent to $3.52 billion from $3.38 billion in the same quarter last year, and topped ten Wall Street analysts' consensus estimate of $3.50 billion by a whisker. 'During the quarter, we continued to aggressively pursue price increases and made further progress in countering high raw material cost inflation. Although prices of many raw materials have stabilized, we plan to implement additional price increases in 2012 to offset the inflation we have already absorbed,' Bunch noted. PPG said it experienced strengthening global demand during the fourth quarter in several end-use markets, including aerospace, automotive manufacturing and several general industrial markets. Performance coatings sales in the fourth quarter increased 3 percent to $1.14 billion, and sales at industrial coatings grew 7 percent to $1.02 million from last year. Sales for the architectural coatings - Europe, Middle East and Africa or EMEA, increased 5 percent to $449 million, while optical and specialty materials delivered sales of $259 million, down 3 percent from last year. Commodity chemicals sales rose 20 percent to $4398 million, while sales for glass segment edged down 1 percent to $256 million from last year. For fiscal 2011, the company reported net income of $1.1 billion or $6.87 per share, higher than $769 million or $4.63 per share in the prior year. Analysts expected the company to report earnings of $6.76 per share for fiscal 2011. Net revenues for the full year grew 11 percent to $14.89 billion from $13.42 billion in the previous year. Street was looking for full-year 2011 revenues of $14.84 billion. Looking ahead, the company anticipates first quarter 2012 growth to remain uneven by region and varied by industry, similar to the fourth quarter 2011. The company anticipates the European region to remain the most challenging. 'We intend to continue to prudently deploy our strong cash position for earnings accretion and rewarding shareholders, and are targeting to end 2012 with a cash balance of less than $1 billion,' Bunch added. PPG closed Wednesday's regular trading session at $89.90, up $1.63 on a volume of 1.05 million shares, lower than the three-month average volume of 1.13 million shares.
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