Release Details

Third Quarter Highlights:

• EPS of $1.30, Excluding Special Items, Up 41% Versus Prior Year
• Sales of $473 Million, Up 22% Versus Prior Year
• Continued Strong Cash Flow from Operations, Up 10% Year-to-Date
• Normerica Inc. (“Normerica”) Integration Progressing Well
• Acquired Specialty PCC Assets in the Midwest US in November

NEW YORK, Nov. 04, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE: MTX) (“MTI” or “the Company”) today reported diluted earnings per share, excluding special items, of $1.30 per share for the third quarter ended October 3, 2021, compared with $0.92 in the prior year and $1.29 in the second quarter. Reported diluted earnings per share were $1.22 compared with $0.83 in the prior year and $1.23 in the second quarter.

“MTI had another record quarter of earnings marked by solid execution, strong end market demand, and progress with our strategic growth initiatives,” said Douglas T. Dietrich, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “Our teams have performed well to support our customers while we continue to experience tight conditions across transportation, labor, materials, and energy markets.”

Mr. Dietrich added, “We advanced several global growth projects in the quarter, including the integration of Normerica and the acquisition of Specialty PCC assets in the Midwest US. With our more balanced portfolio and the momentum we are generating with our growth initiatives, we have meaningfully changed the growth trajectory of our company heading into 2022.”

Third Quarter 2021

Worldwide net sales were $473.2 million, 22 percent higher than the prior year and 4 percent higher sequentially. The acquisition of Normerica, completed on July 26, 2021, contributed sales of $20.0 million, or 5 percent growth versus the prior year and 4 percent growth sequentially. Organic growth for the company was 17 percent versus the prior year and flat sequentially. Foreign exchange had a favorable impact on sales of approximately $6 million, or 2 percent versus the prior year.

Operating income was $60.6 million, or $63.2 million excluding special items. Operating income excluding special items grew 23 percent versus the prior year and was relatively flat versus the second quarter. Operating margin was 12.8 percent, or 13.4 percent excluding special items.

Cash flow from operations was $163.1 million year-to-date compared with $148.4 million in the prior year, a 10 percent improvement. Capital expenditures were $63.0 million year-to-date versus $45.8 million in the prior year, as the company continued to invest in high-return growth opportunities. The company used a portion of free cash flow to repurchase $63 million of shares year-to-date, and completed the share repurchase authorization from the prior year. The Board of Directors authorized a new $75 million 1-year share repurchase program on October 20, 2021.

Segment Information

Performance Materials segment sales were $250.4 million in the third quarter, 23 percent higher than the prior year and 5 percent higher sequentially.

Household, Personal Care & Specialty Products sales were 30 percent above the prior year. The acquisition of Normerica contributed 21 percent growth versus the prior year and organic sales contributed an additional 9 percent, as demand for this product line’s consumer-oriented portfolio remained strong. Sales were 19 percent higher sequentially, primarily driven by the acquisition.

Metalcasting sales were 10 percent higher than the prior year, driven by stronger demand globally and continued penetration of greensand bond technologies in Asia. Sales were 9 percent lower sequentially as foundry customers took typical seasonal outages, and in some cases, foundry demand was impacted by supply chain challenges.

Environmental Products sales grew 32 percent versus the prior year on improved demand for environmental lining systems, remediation, and wastewater treatment. Building Materials sales grew 18 percent versus the prior year and 3 percent sequentially on higher levels of project activity.

Operating income for the segment was $32.0 million, or $32.6 million excluding special items. Operating margin excluding special items was 13.0 percent of sales. Margin was temporarily impacted by unfavorable product mix, the timing of pricing actions relative to cost increases, as well as the incremental sales from Normerica. The company has stated that the Normerica acquisition will be income accretive beginning in the fourth quarter 2021 as integration activities continue.

The Performance Materials segment provides a wide range of bentonite-based and synthetic materials for industrial and consumer-oriented markets and for non-residential construction, environmental remediation, and infrastructure projects worldwide.

Specialty Minerals segment sales, which consist of the Precipitated Calcium Carbonate (PCC) and Processed Minerals product lines, were $146.9 million in the third quarter, 17 percent higher than the prior year and 3 percent higher sequentially.

PCC sales grew 17 percent versus the prior year and 3 percent sequentially on recovering Paper PCC demand, the continued ramp-up of three new satellite plants, and higher SPCC demand from automotive, construction, and consumer end markets. PCC is used in paper and packaging, automotive and construction sealants, and the food and pharmaceutical industries.

Processed Minerals sales grew 18 percent versus the prior year and 2 percent sequentially on continued strength in residential construction and consumer end markets. Processed Minerals products are used in the building materials, polymers, ceramics, consumer products, paints and coatings, glass, and other manufacturing industries.

Segment operating income was $17.3 million, or $18.4 million excluding special items. Operating margin excluding special items was 12.5 percent of sales and was impacted by the timing of contractual and negotiated price increases relative to cost increases.

Refractories segment sales were $75.9 million in the third quarter, 28 percent higher than the prior year and 2 percent higher sequentially as demand remained strong for Refractory and Metallurgical Products.

Segment operating income was $13.2 million, 81 percent higher than the prior year and 13 percent higher sequentially. Operating margin was strong at 17.4 percent of sales. The Refractories segment provides products and services primarily to the worldwide steel industry.

Minerals Technologies will host a conference call tomorrow, November 5, 2021 at 11 a.m. Eastern Time. The conference call will be broadcast live on our website: www.mineralstech.com. To listen to the call, go to the website and click on "Investor Relations," then click on "Quarterly Results & Conference Calls." A presentation for the call will be available at the same location at approximately 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time on November 5, 2021.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release may contain "forward‐looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements provide current expectations and forecasts of future events such as new products, revenues and financial performance, and are not limited to describing historical or current facts. They can be identified by the use of words such as “believes,” “expects,” “plans,” “intends,” “anticipates,” and other words and phrases of similar meaning. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on assumptions, estimates and limited information available at the time they are made. A broad variety of risks and uncertainties, both known and unknown, as well as the inaccuracy of assumptions and estimates, can affect the realization of the expectations or forecasts in these statements. Actual future results may vary materially. Significant factors that could affect the expectations and forecasts include the duration and scope of the COVID-19 pandemic, and government and other third-party responses to it; worldwide general economic, business, and industry conditions, including the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy; the cyclicality of our customers’ businesses and their changing demands; the dependence of certain of our product lines on the commercial construction and infrastructure markets, the domestic building and construction markets, and the automotive market; our ability to effectively achieve and implement our growth initiatives, including, but not limited to, the integration of the Normerica’s business into our business and the expected benefits, cost savings, accretion, synergies and growth to result therefrom; our ability to service our debt; our ability to comply with the covenants in the agreements governing our debt; our ability to renew or extend long term sales contracts for our PCC satellite operations; consolidation in customer industries, principally paper, foundry and steel; compliance with or changes to regulation in the areas of environmental, health and safety, and tax; claims for legal, environmental and tax matters or product stewardship issues; our ability to successfully develop new products; our ability to defend our intellectual property; the increased risks of doing business abroad; the availability of raw materials and access to ore reserves at our mining operations; increases in costs of raw materials, energy, or shipping; our ability to compete in very competitive industries; operating risks and capacity limitations affecting our production facilities; seasonality of some of our segments; cybersecurity and other threats relating to our information technology systems; and other risk factors and cautionary statements in our 2020 Annual Report on Form 10‐K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward‐looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

About Minerals Technologies Inc.
New York-based Minerals Technologies Inc. (MTI) is a global resource- and technology-based company that develops, produces and markets a broad range of specialty mineral, mineral-based and synthetic mineral products and related systems and services. MTI serves the paper, foundry, steel, construction, environmental, energy, polymer and consumer products industries. The Company reported sales of $1.6 billion in 2020. For further information, please visit our website at www.mineralstech.com. (MTI-E)

Source: Minerals Technologies Inc.