PQ Group Reports Second Quarter 2020 Results: $16 Million Net Income and $113 Million Adjusted EBITDA With Robust Margin of 28%; Reinitiating 2020 Guidance and Raising 2020 Adjusted Free Cash Flow to $145 to $155 Million

• Sales of $359.5 million and Net income of $15.9 million with diluted EPS of $0.12; Adjusted net income of $30.0 million with Adjusted diluted EPS of $0.22;
• Adjusted EBITDA of $113.0 million; Adjusted EBITDA margin of 28.2% in line with prior year on effective cost management actions;
• Monetization of non-strategic assets leads to ~$27 million in cash proceeds ($18 million of which was received on July 1, 2020)
• Secured notes refinancing significantly lowers interest costs and extends maturities

MALVERN, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- PQ Group Holdings Inc. (NYSE:PQG) (“PQ” or the “Company”) today reported results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2020. Sales of $359.5 million decreased 16.7% compared with the same period in 2019, or 14.4% on a constant currency basis, largely on lower volume from COVID-19 impacts related to stay-at-home mandates and demand disruption for industrial applications. Net income was $15.9 million with $0.12 diluted EPS and Adjusted net income was $30.0 million with $0.22 Adjusted diluted EPS. Adjusted EBITDA of $113.0 million declined 14.7% from the prior year, or 12.6% on a constant currency basis, as the effects of lower sales volumes were mitigated by PQ’s active management of production and costs that drove a robust Adjusted EBITDA margin of 28.2%.

“PQ’s favorable second quarter performance demonstrates the resilience of our portfolio and the impressive execution of the team, which quickly adjusted our cost structure to hold the line on margins despite the stiff macroeconomic headwinds,” said Belgacem Chariag, PQ Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Based on current visibility into demand trends for the balance of the year, we are pleased to reinitiate 2020 financial guidance and raise our expectations for our annual Adjusted free cash flow to $145 to $155 million, with Adjusted EBITDA margin now expected to be in line with 2019 levels.”

Review of Segment Results

While second quarter macroeconomic activity experienced a sharp downdraft from the prior year, the quarter was marked by solid month-to-month improvement through June on rebounding driving activity and industrial demand. Approximately 70% of product sales are expected to come from end uses that are stable or improving in the second half of 2020. For PQ, favorable end-use conditions in regeneration services, highway striping, personal care and other product lines are expected to be more than offset by deferral of specialty and hydrocracking catalysts to 2021.

Refining Services

Regeneration services demand was predominately shaped by gasoline consumption that recovered late in the quarter following lows in April. By the end of June, U.S. gasoline use had improved 70% from its lows in early April and returned to about 90% of 2019 levels. Virgin sulfuric acid experienced automotive and industrial production demand declines that were in line with PQ’s expectations. For the remainder of 2020, gasoline consumption is anticipated to exceed 90% of 2019 levels, reflecting a blend of reopening activities and likely containment setbacks. The Company expects a stronger recovery for regeneration services and improving demand for virgin sulfuric acid.

Sales of $90.4 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $35.0 million decreased 22.9% and 18.2%, respectively, versus the same period in 2019. Lower gasoline consumption reduced demand for regeneration services and weakness in automotive and industrial applications affected virgin sulfuric acid sales, which were mitigated by a sharp reduction in costs.

Catalysts

For polyethylene, elevated demand for packaging largely normalized while demand for construction and consumer discretionary items began to recover as the second quarter progressed. Within refining and emission control, after a strong first half, demand is expected to be soft in the second half with change-outs by refineries deferred to 2021 and heavy-duty diesel truck production down more than 30% versus 2019 levels.

Silica Catalysts sales of $25.2 million increased 20.6%, or 23.9% on a constant currency basis, versus the same period in 2019, largely driven by higher sales for both chemical and polyolefin catalysts. Zeolyst JV sales of $41.0 million rose 4.9% as higher sales volumes for specialty and hydrocracking catalysts more than offset lower demand for emission control catalysts. Adjusted EBITDA of $25.3 million decreased 14.5%, or 13.5% on a constant currency basis, largely on unfavorable fixed cost absorption from inventory reductions to align with expected second half demand.

Performance Materials

North American highway striping activity remains healthy, with demand for European highway safety lagging. Within engineered glass materials, metal finishing and polymer additive demand remains suppressed, but orders are improving as industrial activity resumes.

Second quarter sales of $104.3 million decreased 12.3%, or 11.0% on a constant currency basis, as steady North America highway sales volumes and price were more than offset by slower recovery in European highway activities and lower global industrial demand for engineered glass materials. Adjusted EBITDA of $27.3 million decreased 6.5%, or 5.1% on a constant currency basis, versus the same period in 2019 as effective cost reduction actions mitigated the volume impact.

Performance Chemicals

Stay-at-home trends have translated into higher demand for personal care, cleaning products and detergents, which exceeded expectations in the second quarter but may normalize in the second half. As expected, industrial applications were negatively impacted while demand for beer and coatings are improving. PQ expects demand for the industrial product line to recover gradually as automotive and tire production rebound.

Sales of $142.6 million decreased 19.8%, or 15.4% on a constant currency basis, versus the same period in 2019 on demand weakness within several applications that more than offset stability in global specialty silicas. Adjusted EBITDA of $34.0 million decreased 17.5%, or 12.4% on a constant currency basis, on lower sales volumes that were partly offset by expanding margins.

Balance Sheet and Liquidity

At June 30, 2020, PQ had total available liquidity of $285.3 million, including cash and cash equivalents of $88.6 million. On July 22, 2020, PQ further improved its financial position by closing on a new $650 million senior secured term loan facility with a floating interest rate of LIBOR (with a 1.0% minimum LIBOR floor) plus 3.0% per annum, maturing in February 2027. Proceeds were used to redeem the Company’s 6.750% 2022 Senior Secured Notes. PQ’s collective financing activities in the first half of 2020 resulted in the lowering of annual cash interest by approximately $19 million (at current rates) and extended all material debt maturities to 2025 or later with prepayment flexibility.

“We were pleased to further enhance our financial flexibility, lower interest expense, reduce our cost of capital and extend maturities with the refinancings,” said PQ Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Mike Crews. “PQ has reduced debt by approximately $770 million and lowered annualized cash interest by more than $100 million since our initial public offering in 2017, and we look to continue to de-lever over time.”

2020 Financial Outlook

“PQ is executing well operationally and commercially, delivering good financial results in a challenging environment and continuing to optimize the portfolio,” said Chariag. “Looking ahead, we see the vast majority of PQ’s end uses as either favorable or improving, even as we are mindful of the cautious global economic environment that surrounds us all. We are appropriately managing costs and exercising capital discipline, while we build capabilities and invest for targeted growth.”

The Company provided full-year 2020 guidance which includes:

• Sales of $1,430 to $1,460 million⁽¹⁾
• Adjusted EBITDA of $410 to $425 million
• Adjusted EBITDA margin of ~27% in line with 2019 margins
• Adjusted diluted EPS of $0.67 to $0.86
• Adjusted free cash flow in the range of $145 to $155 million, excluding $18 million in cash proceeds from product line sale; increased from $130 to $150 million

Conference Call and Webcast Details

On Thursday, July 30, 2020, PQ management will review the results during a conference call and audio-only webcast scheduled for 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time.

Conference Call: Investors may listen to the conference call live via telephone by dialing 1 (877) 883-0383 (domestic) or 1 (412) 902-6506 (international) and use the participant code 5849647.

Webcast: An audio-only live webcast of the conference call and presentation materials can be accessed at http://investor.pqcorp.com.

A replay of the conference call/webcast will be made available at http://investor.pqcorp.com/events-presentations.

Investor Contact:
Nahla A. Azmy
(610) 651-4561
Nahla.Azmy@pqcorp.com

About PQ Group Holdings Inc.

PQ Group Holdings Inc. and subsidiaries is a leading integrated and innovative global provider of specialty catalysts, materials, chemicals and services. We support customers globally through our strategically located network of manufacturing facilities. We believe that our products, which are predominantly inorganic, and services contribute to improving the sustainability of the environment.

We have four uniquely positioned specialty businesses: Refining Services provides sulfuric acid recycling to the North American refining industry; Catalysts serves the packaging and engineering plastics and the global refining, petrochemical and emissions control industries; Performance Materials produces transportation reflective safety markings for roads and airports; and Performance Chemicals supplies diverse product end uses, including personal and industrial cleaning products, fuel-efficient tires, surface coatings, and food and beverage products.

We serve over 4,000 customers globally across many end uses and operate over 70 manufacturing facilities which are strategically located across six continents. For more information, see our website at https://www.pqcorp.com.

Presentation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

In addition to the results provided in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) throughout this press release, the Company has provided non-GAAP financial measures—Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin, Adjusted free cash flow, Adjusted net income, Adjusted EPS, Adjusted diluted EPS, constant currency sales and constant currency Adjusted EBITDA (collectively, “Non-GAAP Financial Measures”) —which present results on a basis adjusted for certain items. The Company uses these Non-GAAP Financial Measures for business planning purposes and in measuring its performance relative to that of its competitors. The Company believes that these Non-GAAP Financial Measures are useful financial metrics to assess its operating performance from period-to-period by excluding certain items that the Company believes are not representative of its core business. These Non-GAAP Financial Measures are not intended to replace, and should not be considered superior to, the presentation of the Company’s financial results in accordance with GAAP. The use of the Non-GAAP Financial Measures terms may differ from similar measures reported by other companies and may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures. These Non-GAAP Financial Measures are reconciled from the respective measures under GAAP in the appendix below.

In discussing our operating results, the term currency exchange rates refers to the currency exchange rates we use to convert the operating results for all countries where the functional currency is not the U.S. dollar. We calculate constant currency sales and constant currency Adjusted EBITDA by translating current period results at the prior period’s currency exchange rates. When we refer to constant currency sales and constant currency Adjusted EBITDA, this means sales and Adjusted EBITDA without the impact of the currency exchange rate fluctuations from period-to period.

The Company is not able to provide a reconciliation of the Company’s non-GAAP financial guidance to the corresponding GAAP measures without unreasonable effort because of the inherent difficulty in forecasting and quantifying certain amounts necessary for such a reconciliation such as certain non-cash, nonrecurring or other items that are included in net income and EBITDA as well as the related tax impacts of these items and asset dispositions / acquisitions and changes in foreign currency exchange rates that are included in cash flow, due to the uncertainty and variability of the nature and amount of these future charges and costs.

Zeolyst Joint Venture

The Company’s zeolite catalysts product group operates through its Zeolyst Joint Venture, which is accounted for as an equity method investment in accordance with GAAP. The presentation of the Zeolyst Joint Venture’s sales represents 50% of the sales of the Zeolyst Joint Venture. The Company does not record sales by the Zeolyst Joint Venture as revenue and such sales are not consolidated within the Company’s results of operations. However, the Company’s Adjusted EBITDA reflects the share of earnings of the Zeolyst Joint Venture that have been recorded as equity in net income from affiliated companies in the Company’s consolidated statements of income for such periods and includes Zeolyst Joint Venture adjustments on a proportionate basis based on the Company’s 50% ownership interest. Accordingly, the Company’s Adjusted EBITDA margins are calculated including 50% of the sales of the Zeolyst Joint Venture for the relevant periods in the denominator.

Note on Forward-Looking Statements

Some of the information contained in this press release constitutes “forward-looking statements.” Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “seeks,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “projects” and similar references to future periods. Forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and assumptions regarding our business, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our future results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, prospects, growth, strategies, product and service offerings, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on such items, expected demand trends and our 2020 financial outlook. Our actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. We caution you, therefore, against relying on any of these forward-looking statements. They are neither statements of historical fact nor guarantees or assurances of future performance. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, regional, national or global political, economic, business, competitive, market and regulatory conditions, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, tariffs and trade disputes, currency exchange rates and other factors, including those described in the sections titled “Risk Factors” and “Management Discussion & Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in our filings with the SEC, which are available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release. Factors or events that could cause our actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of them. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable law.