Northfield, Illinois – Stepan, whose portfolio includes speciality polyols, generated $675.3m in sales the first quarter of 2022. This is up 25.6% on the same period last year.
Power outage hit Stepan's polyol numbers in Q1
Operating income across the business rose 17.4% to $63.3m in the first quarter of 2022.
'The company had a solid start to the year despite the power outage at the Millsdale, Illinois plant site and ongoing global supply chain challenges,' said COO Scott Behrens.
In the company's polymers business, which houses polyols, sales rose by 24.8% between the first quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022, at $187.7m. This compares with $150.4m in the equivalent period in 2021.
Operating income in the division fell 21.2% to $14.1m, down from $18m in the 2021 quarter.
The decline in operating income was attributed to the power failure at its Millsdale plant that led to a force majeure declaration for a number of product lines, and hit earnings by about $5m, the company said.
Sales volumes were up 2% across the division, with the volume of rigid polyols increasing by 5% following the purchase of the business from Invista. This closed at the end of January 2021.
Behrens said: 'We believe our polymer business will deliver growth. We continue to believe the long-term prospects for rigid polyols remain attractive as energy conservation efforts and more stringent building codes should increase demand.'
- Separately, Behrens was named as CEO on 25 April as long-time business leader Quinn Stepan stepped down from the rol; he was the third Stepan to run the business since the company's foundation. Quinn Stepan will continue as the non-executive chairman of the board. Behrens' appointment is expected to be ratified by the annual shareholders' meeting later in 2022
