Ashland Profit Nearly Triples as Sales Surge

Ashland, the chemical maker and Valvoline brand owner, said on Friday its quarterly profit nearly tripled as volumes and sales rallied across most of its business units. The company not only produces a wide range of chemicals, including industrial glues, but distributes chemicals for its rivals.

Its results are often a key barometer on the health of the overall chemical industry and by extension, the broader economy.

For the third quarter ended on June 30, Ashland posted net income of $148 million, or $1.85 per share, compared with $50 million, or 66 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, including a tax benefit, the company earned $1.22 per share. By that measure, analysts expected earnings of $1.13, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Revenue rose 16% to $2.36 billion. Analysts expected $2.30 billion.

The Covington, Ky.-based company said the busy summer driving season helped fuel a 5% jump in sales at the consumer markets unit, which contains the Valvoline oil change business. Across the company, sales rose at three of its five units, with sales falling only slightly at the functional ingredients unit, which makes chemicals for paint, food and medical uses, and the water technologies unit, which supplies materials used in wastewater treatment. Sales in the chemical distribution unit rose 32.2%.

"As we consider the next few quarters, we anticipate sustained, gradual growth of the overall economy," Ashland Chief Executive Officer James O'Brien said in a statement. "We continue to see growth in both volume and sales."