A. Schulman announced earnings for the fiscal 2015 second quarter ended February 28, 2015. Consolidated net sales were $542.3 million, compared with $588.5 million in the prior-year quarter.
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Foreign currency translation negatively impacted net sales by $59.7 million. Incremental net sales in the second quarter of fiscal 2015 from the Company's recent acquisitions contributed $36.7 million.
Gross margin, excluding certain items, in the second quarter as a percent of net sales improved to 14.5% compared with 12.8% in the prior-year period.
EMEA net sales were $315.1 million compared with $383 million in the same prior-year period. Excluding the unfavorable impact of foreign currency translation of $51.7 million, sales declined by 4.2%, primarily due to lower sales prices as a result of declining raw material prices.
These declines were partially offset by increased organic volumes in the masterbatch solutions product family, as well as the incremental contribution of the Ferro Specialty Plastics acquisition which increased net sales by $9.7 million. EMEA gross profit was $44.5 million.
Excluding the negative impact of foreign currency translation of $6.6 million, gross profit increased by $3.6 million, or 7.5%, primarily due to improved product mix and inventory management as well as the incremental contribution of the Ferro Specialty Plastics acquisition.
Net sales for the U.S. and Canada (USCAN) were $133.4 million, an increase of 22.8% in the second quarter compared with the prior-year period. During the second quarter, the incremental contribution of the Prime Colorants and Ferro Specialty Plastics acquisitions was $24.6 million in net sales.
Excluding the impact of foreign currency translation and acquisitions, price per pound increased as a result of the Company's strategy to improve product mix in the region. Foreign currency translation negatively impacted net sales by $0.4 million.
USCAN gross profit was $19.7 million, an increase of $6.4 million from the same period last year. The benefits of recent acquisitions and related integration, along with improved mix on gross profit were partially offset by unfavorable foreign currency translation.
LATAM net sales for the quarter were $41.1 million, a decrease of $7.3 million compared with the prior-year period. Excluding the unfavorable impact of foreign currency translation, which decreased net sales by $5.6 million, average price per pound increased principally driven by improved product mix.
LATAM gross profit was $7.1 million, a decrease of $0.8 million from the comparable period last year. The benefits of improved product mix were offset by unfavorable foreign currency translation of $0.9 million.
APAC net sales were $52.6 million, an increase of $4.2 million compared with the prior-year period. During the second quarter, the Compco acquisition contributed net sales of $2.4 million, which was offset by approximately $2.0 million negative impact of foreign currency translation.
APAC gross profit was $7.4 million, an increase of $0.9 million compared with the prior-year period. Gross profit benefited from the positive contribution of the Compco acquisition and increased organic volume. ■