LyondellBasell Industries Q1 Profit Rises - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Dutch chemicals and polymers maker LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (LYB) reported that its first-quarter 2014 net income attributable to shareholders rose to $945 million, from the prior year's $901 million, with earnings per share improving to $1.72 from $1.55 last year.

Earnings from continuing operations for the first quarter 2014 were $943 million or $1.72 per share, compared to $906 million or $1.56 per share last year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $1.73 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

The first quarter 2014 income from continuing operations benefitted from $52 million related to an environmental indemnity settlement. There was no tax impact associated with this credit. The effect on diluted earnings per share was $0.09.

Sales and other operating revenues for the quarter grew to $11.135 billion from $10.669 billion last year. Wall Street expected revenues of $11.17 billion.

"During the second quarter, we expect significant planned downtime at our La Porte facility while we perform normal turnaround maintenance and additional steps to complete an 800 million pounds per year ethylene expansion. Inventory build-up in preparation for this downtime should enable us to meet customer demands while helping mitigate the financial impact on the second quarter. As we enter the summer driving season, our refining benchmark crack spread is expected to remain relatively unchanged from the first quarter," said Jim Gallogly, LyondellBasell Chief Executive Officer.