A. Schulman announced earnings for the fiscal 2015 third quarter ended May 31, 2015. Consolidated net sales were $560.9 million, compared with $645.7 million in the same prior-year quarter.
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Of the $84.8 million change, foreign currency translation accounted for $91.4 million of the decrease. Net sales from plants acquired in 2014, which includes A. Schulman's legacy volume consolidated during the integration process, contributed $33.9 million of revenue during the quarter.
Adjusted gross margin in the third quarter as a percent of net sales improved to 16.2% compared with 14.3% in the prior-year period.
The Company reported a net loss from continuing operations of $0.34 per diluted share. On an adjusted basis, excluding financing, restructuring and acquisitions-related costs, the Company generated net income of $0.72 per diluted share.
Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) net sales were $326.3 million compared with $413.8 million in the same prior-year period. Excluding the unfavorable impact of foreign currency translation of $79.7 million, net sales declined by 1.9%, primarily due to lower volumes in the engineered plastics and distribution services product families, partially offset by double digit volume growth in the masterbatch solutions product family.
EMEA adjusted gross profit was $51.7 million. Excluding the negative impact of foreign currency translation of $11.3 million, adjusted gross profit increased by $6.2 million, or 10.9%, primarily due to improved product mix as well as the incremental contribution of the Specialty Plastics acquisition.
Net sales for the U.S. and Canada (USCAN) were $137.1 million, an increase of 4.1% in the third quarter compared with the same prior-year period. The incremental net sales were partially offset by lower net sales of $11.6 million in the specialty powders product family as a result of weaker oilfield services demand.
The Specialty Plastics acquisition contributed $19.6 million of net sales growth during the quarter. USCAN adjusted gross profit was $22.1 million, a decrease of $1.7 million from the same prior-year period. The benefits of the recent Specialty Plastics acquisition and related integration were more than offset by unfavorable product mix.
Latin America's (LATAM) net sales for the quarter were $44.8 million, a decrease of $4.9 million compared with the same prior-year period. Excluding the unfavorable impact of foreign currency translation of $8.5 million, net sales increased 7.2%.
LATAM adjusted gross profit was $9.3 million, an increase of $4.9 million or 108.5% from the comparable period last year primarily due to the benefits of improved product mix and operating cost.
Asia Pacific (APAC) net sales were $52.7 million, an increase of $2.2 million or 4.3% compared with the same prior-year period. Incremental sales from the 2014 Compco acquisition were offset by the negative impact from foreign currency translation.
APAC adjusted gross profit was $7.8 million, an increase of $0.7 million compared with the prior-year period. Gross profit benefited from the positive contribution of the Compco acquisition and increased organic volume. ■