Georgia Gulf Reports Q4 EPS $0.43 (GGC)

Georgia Gulf Corporation GGC today announced financial results for its fourth quarter and year ended Dec. 31, 2010. Georgia Gulf reported net income of $15.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2010, compared to a net loss of $124.7 million during the same quarter in the previous year. For the full year 2010, Georgia Gulf recorded net income of $42.7 million, compared to net income of $131.1 million in 2009. Results for the full year 2009 include a pre-tax gain of $400.8 million related to the company's 2009 debt exchange, partially offset by a loss of $42.8 million due to debt modification and extinguishment. The company reported operating income of $33.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2010 compared to an operating loss of $18.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2009. The increase in operating income was primarily driven by higher ECU values and higher chlorovinyls and aromatics sales volumes, partially offset by higher raw materials costs. Georgia Gulf reported operating income of $114.3 million for the full year 2010, compared to an operating loss of $0.6 million during the previous year. “Our fourth quarter financial performance exceeded our earlier expectations, driven mainly by strong export volumes and improving margins in our Chlorovinyls and Aromatics segments. Our Building Products business reported its second straight year of strong results, generating 33 percent more adjusted EBITDA in 2010 than 2009 on just a 4 percent increase in sales volume,” said Paul Carrico, president and CEO, Georgia Gulf. “2010 was an inflection point for our Chemicals organization as we saw business performance improve markedly from the first quarter through the end of the year,” Carrico said. “We expect this momentum to continue into 2011, and we have positioned our businesses to take advantage of favorable conditions in the global petrochemicals market and drive earnings higher.” Georgia Gulf reported net sales of $692.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2010, 38 percent higher than the net sales of $502.1 million reported in the fourth quarter of 2009. The increase was primarily due to higher sales prices in vinyl resins and caustic soda, as well as higher sales volumes in the Chlorovinyls and Aromatics segments. For the year ended Dec. 31, 2010, Georgia Gulf's net sales were $2.8 billion, compared to $2.0 billion during 2009. The increase in net sales was primarily due to higher prices and sales volumes in the Chlorovinyls and Aromatics segments. Chlorovinyls In the Chlorovinyls segment, fourth quarter 2010 net sales increased to $319.5 million from $237.7 million during the fourth quarter of 2009. The increase was primarily due to higher sales prices for caustic soda and higher sales prices and volumes for vinyl resins. The segment posted operating income of $41.5 million, compared to $4.0 million during the same quarter the prior year. The increase in operating income was primarily due to higher ECU values and PVC sales volume in the current quarter, compared to the fourth quarter of 2009.