CLEVELAND (July 30)—PolyOne Corp. returned to the black in second quarter, posting net income of $21.5 million compared to a loss of $6.0 million in last year's period.
The polymer and compounding company reported a 10-percent increase in sales from continuing operations to $557.8 million.
First-half earnings came in at $25.5 million after the firm reported a $25.3 million loss in 2003's first six months. Sales increased 9.6 percent to $1.03 billion from $997.2 million.
"While we gained leverage from an improving North American economy, credit for our turnaround goes primarily to our people for their focus on our four key priorities: to reduce debt, turn around two core businesses, lower overhead costs and increase revenues from our continuing operations," President and CEO Thomas A. Waltermire said.
The discontinued Elastomers and Performance Additives business posted net income of $10 million on sales of $95 million, improvements over last year's earnings of $7.3 million and revenues of $87.5 million. In June, PolyOne signed an agreement to sell the elastomers unit to an investor group led by Lion Chemical Capital L.L.C. and ACI Capital Co. Inc. The deal is expected to close during the third quarter.