Olin Corporation OLN posted fourth-quarter 2023 earnings of 43 cents per share, down from $1.43 per share in the year-ago quarter.

Barring one-time items, adjusted earnings came in at 30 cents per share, topping the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 20 cents.

The chemical maker’s revenues fell roughly 18.3% year over year to $1,614.6 million in the quarter. It beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1,499.2 million.

Olin Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Olin Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Olin Corporation Quote

Segment Review

Chlor Alkali Products and Vinyls: In the fourth quarter, revenues amounted to $906.1 million, down around 22.7% year over year. It surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $843 million. The decrease in sales was primarily due to lower pricing and a less favorable product mix.

Epoxy: Revenues in the division declined around 35.4% year over year to $313.1 million on lower volumes. It missed the consensus estimate of $323 million. Epoxy sales decreased due to lower product pricing and reduced cumene and bisphenol sales.

Winchester: Revenues rose around 23.6% year over year to $395.4 million. It beat the consensus estimate of $357 million. Winchester revenues grew due to increased commercial ammunition shipments, domestic and international military sales, and White Flyer sales.

Financials

Olin had a cash balance of $170.3 million as of Dec 31, 2023. The company had a net debt of roughly $2.5 billion and a net debt-to-adjusted EBITDA ratio of 1.9x. As of Dec 31, 2023, Olin had around $1.3 billion in available liquidity.

In the fourth quarter, the company repurchased roughly 2.5 million shares of common stock for $116.2 million. In 2023, roughly 13.3 million shares of common stock were repurchased for $711.3 million. Olin had approximately $1 billion available under its share repurchase program as of Dec 31, 2023.

Outlook

Olin expects success with its value accelerator initiative but will limit its market involvement through February 2024. The company anticipates that its initiatives will help to improve adjusted EBITDA in 2024 compared to 2023. Chemical businesses' first-quarter 2024 results are expected to be slightly higher than fourth-quarter 2023 levels, taking into account the challenging global economic situation and the value accelerator initiative. Winchester's first-quarter 2024 results are expected to grow sequentially from the fourth quarter of 2023. Olin expects adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter of 2024 to increase by around 10% from the fourth quarter of 2023.