Chemtura Corporation announced financial results for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2014. and reported net sales of $467 million and net earnings from continuing operations on a GAAP basis of $703 million. Full year 2014 net sales were $2.19 billion, net earnings from continuing operations were $763 million. The gross profit margin reached 23% in 2014.

"With the closing of the sale of Chemtura AgroSolutions on November 3, 2014, we completed our portfolio transformation program having divested three major businesses in two years," commented Craig A. Rogerson, Chairman, President and CEO of Chemtura. "For the first time in many years Chemtura has a tightly focused business portfolio and is now a 'pure play' industrial specialty chemicals company. We have acted quickly to deploy the net after-tax sale proceeds to meet our commitments to return value to shareholders, launching a contingent tender offer to repurchase stock before the transaction closed, and to reduce our debt to a level required to maintain our ratio of debt to adjusted EBITDA at approximately the same level as before the divestiture. In the thirteen months ended January 2015, we have repaid approximately $360 million of debt and we will see the benefit from lower interest expense in 2015. This year we have repurchased 25.8 million shares at a cost of $618 million. 2014 has indeed been a transformative year."

"2014 was a tougher year for our businesses," continued Mr. Rogerson. "Despite the successes such as the commercial adoption of our new insulation foam flame retardant, Emerald Innovation 3000 and commencing commercial deliveries of HVPAO from our new plant in The Netherlands, excess industry capacity for bromine and organometallics used in polyolefin polymerization catalysts overshadowed our progress. We have responded by managing what we can control, accelerating our manufacturing cost reduction programs and finding new opportunities to reduce SG&A expense within our businesses. These actions will deliver $50 million in cost reductions in 2015 and $62 million on an annualized basis, creating the foundation for profit and margin expansion in 2015. We also are taking steps to eliminate stranded costs arising the divestiture of Chemtura AgroSolutions by the end of the first quarter of 2015."

Outlook

"2015 will permit us to start demonstrating the potential of our industrial specialty chemicals portfolio," noted Mr. Rogerson. "We will drive profitability growth and margin expansion underpinned by our cost reduction actions. We are focused on execution of our operational plans. We are not relying upon a recovery in bromine this year but will clearly exploit any recovery if it does occur. Our efforts on innovation and on commercial excellence will contribute to improved performance. Meanwhile we are exploring the next steps in building our industrial specialty chemical portfolio."

"We are continuing to execute upon the remainder of our authorized stock repurchase program", concluded Mr. Rogerson. "As of Friday, February 20, 2015, we had repurchased 4.5 million shares year-to-date at a cost of $106 million, leaving $64 million available for repurchases under our share repurchase program. Our outstanding common stock as of that date was 67.1 million.