Eastman Chemical Q2 Profit Rises - Update

(RTTNews) - Eastman Chemical Co. (EMN) on Monday reported an increase in profit for the second quarter, as the chemical company's revenues increased across all segments except at its specialty fluids and intermediates unit. Earnings for the quarter came in ahead of Wall Street estimates, but revenues fell short of expectations.

Kingsport, Tennessee-based Eastman Chemical's second-quarter profit rose to $292 million or $1.93 per share from $264 million or $1.69 per share last year.

Excluding one-time items, adjusted earnings from continuing operations for the quarter rose to $1.92 per share from $1.80 per share last year. On average, 15 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $1.84 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Eastman said its revenues for the second quarter grew to $2.46 billion from $2.44 billion last year. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $2.51 billion for the quarter.

Revenues across all the segments grew, except specialty fluids and intermediates division due to lower sales volume resulting from weather-related outage at Longveiw, Texas site and unplanned shutdown at its Kingsport site.

"We delivered solid results across our portfolio in the second quarter despite a number of challenges. We continue to focus on growth through Eastman-specific actions, including serving growing markets with capacity additions, improving our mix with higher-value products, and disciplined capital allocation," said CEO Mark Costa.

Moving ahead, the company continues to expect full-year 2014 adjusted earnings of $6.70 to $7.00 per share. Analysts currently expect earnings of $6.92 per share for the full year 2014.

EMN closed Monday's trading at $88.67, down $0.04 or 0.05%, on the NYSE. The stock further dropped $0.02 or 0.02%, in after-hours trade.