Glass Sales Down Despite Record Second-Quarter Profits for PPG

PPG Industries reported record second-quarter net sales in 2013 of $4.1 billion, up 16 percent versus the prior year, but company glass sales dipped in what chairman and chief executive officer Charles E. Bunch calls a “challenging” glass market.

Overall, the company reported a second-quarter net income from continuing operations of  $341 million, or $2.35 per diluted share. Adjusted net income for the quarter was $356 million, or a record $2.45 per diluted share, excluding non-recurring acquisition-related charges of 10 cents per diluted share. In the second quarter of 2012, the company reported net income and earnings per diluted share from continuing operations were $297 million and $1.92 respectively. There were no nonrecurring charges in the prior-year quarter.

“We achieved new sales and adjusted earnings records due to the continued strong performance of our coatings businesses, which in aggregate delivered 25 percent earnings growth in comparison to last year’s record level,” says Bunch. “The record adjusted earnings results were driven by our strong operating focus, including ongoing aggressive cost management, and the earnings benefit from cash deployed on recent coatings acquisitions.”

Glass segment sales, however, were $269 million for the quarter, down $4 million year over year, with volumes declining in both fiber glass and flat glass. PPG’s glass setbacks were partly offset by higher flat glass pricing, the company says in its release. Segment earnings were $8 million, a decrease of $15 million from the prior-year quarter. Earnings were impacted by the lower sales, reduced equity and international licensing earnings and the negative impact of inflation, including higher transportation and natural gas unit costs, according to the release.

The company reported that overall cash and short-term investments totaled approximately $1.8 billion as of June 30, 2013, up from $1.2 billion at the end of the second quarter 2012. In addition, year-to-date cash from operations was about $500 million, about $80 million ahead of the prior-year cash from continuing operations.