Item 9.         Regulation FD Disclosure

        On April 24, 2003, Minerals Technologies Inc. issued a press release concerning its financial performance for the first quarter of 2003.

 

 

 

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NEW YORK, April 24--Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE: MTX) today reported first quarter diluted earnings per common share of $0.74, before the cumulative effect of an accounting change; this represents a 12-percent increase from the $0.66 reported in the first quarter of 2002. Diluted earnings per share for the quarter, including the $0.17 non-cash after-tax charge, were $0.57, or 14 percent lower than the same period in 2002. The after-tax charge resulted from the adoption of the Financial Accounting Standard Board's SFAS No. 143, "Accounting for Asset Retirement Obligations," which requires the company to record a liability for future asset retirement obligations.

Worldwide sales were $201.5 million, a 13-percent increase over the $179.0 million reported in the first quarter of 2002. Foreign exchange had a favorable impact of approximately $8.2 million on sales, or 5 percentage points of growth. For the quarter, operating income was $22.5 million compared with $21.4 million for the same period last year, a 5-percent increase. Before the accounting change, the company's income for the quarter was $14.9 million, a 10-percent increase from the $13.5 million reported in the first quarter of 2002. Including the $3.4 million charge for the accounting change, net income was $11.5 million compared with $13.5 million, a 15-percent decline.

"Minerals Technologies performed well in the first quarter, with growth across all of the company's businesses," said Paul R. Saueracker, chairman, president and chief executive officer.

Sales in the Specialty Minerals segment, which includes the precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) and Processed Minerals product lines, increased 11 percent to $137.8 million from $124.3 million in the first quarter of 2002. Income from operations increased 2 percent to $15.5 million from $15.2 million in the same period last year.

Worldwide sales of PCC grew 6 percent to $109.3 million from $102.9 million in the first quarter of 2002. This growth was attributable to both increased volumes and a favorable currency impact in Europe.

"We continued to see good growth in our Paper PCC business as well as some improvement in our sales of Specialty PCC, used in non-paper applications," said Mr. Saueracker. "We were pleased that volume growth of PCC used for filling and coating paper and the favorable effect of foreign exchange more than offset the shutdown of our satellite plant in December 2002 at the Great Northern Paper Company in Millinocket, Maine, which is in bankruptcy proceedings."

Worldwide sales of Processed Minerals products increased 33 percent in the first quarter to $28.5 million from $21.4 million in the same period in the prior year. This increase was attributable primarily to the September 2002 acquisition of Polar Minerals Inc. However, the company also experienced volume growth in the underlying business. Processed Minerals products, which include ground calcium carbonate, talc, mica and barytes, are used in the building materials, polymers, ceramics, paints and coatings, glass and other manufacturing industries.

Sales of Refractories segment products, which are used primarily in the steel industry, increased 16 percent to $63.7 million from $54.7 million in the first quarter of 2002. Income from operations increased 13 percent to $7.0 million from $6.2 million in the first quarter of 2002.

"The Refractories sector experienced higher sales volume, especially in North America and Latin America. We also saw increased sales of our state-of-the-art refractory applications systems. In addition, Refractories benefited from the favorable impact of foreign exchange, particularly in Europe," said Mr. Saueracker. "I would like to point out that the Refractories segment operating margin was 11.0 percent--a significant improvement over the 7.8 percent operating margin delivered in the fourth quarter of 2002."

Mr. Saueracker concluded: "We had a good first quarter despite a less than robust economic environment. We will continue to seize opportunities for growth, and we are hopeful that economic conditions in the manufacturing sector will improve during the year."

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