VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA—(Marketwire – Jan. 25, 2012) – Methanex Corporation (TSX:MX)(NASDAQ:MEOH)(SANTIAGO:Methanex) – For the fourth quarter of 2011, Methanex reported Adjusted EBITDA(1) of $133 million and net income attributable to Methanex shareholders of $64 million ($0.68 per share on a diluted basis). This compares with Adjusted EBITDA(1) of $111 million and net income attributable to Methanex shareholders of $62 million ($0.59 per share on a diluted basis) for the third quarter of 2011. For the year ended December 31, 2011, Methanex reported Adjusted EBITDA(1) of $427 million and net income attributable to Methanex shareholders of 201 million ($2.06 per share on a diluted basis(2)). This compares with Adjusted EBITDA(1) of $291 million and net income attributable to Methanex shareholders of $96 million ($1.03 per share on a diluted basis) for the year ended December 31, 2010.
Bruce Aitken, President and CEO of Methanex commented, “Methanol demand and pricing has been relatively stable and we reported another good quarter of earnings. For 2011, we are also pleased to have reported record sales volumes and significantly higher earnings, as a result of a healthy methanol pricing environment and higher production due to the start up of the Egypt and Medicine Hat plants over the past year.”
Mr. Aitken added, “We have significantly more upside potential to our production and earnings. We recently announced the planned restart of a second plant in New Zealand in mid-2012 and we are aggressively pursuing other initiatives to increase the utilization of our Chile assets, including a project to relocate one of the idle plants to the U.S. Gulf Coast for start-up in the second half of 2014. The outlook for the industry also looks very attractive, as demand growth is expected to significantly exceed new capacity additions over the next few years.”
Mr. Aitken concluded, “With over US$300 million of cash on hand, an undrawn credit facility, a robust balance sheet, and strong cash flow generation, we are well positioned to invest in strategic opportunities to grow the Company, and continue to deliver on our commitment to return excess cash to shareholders.”
A conference call is scheduled for January 26, 2012 at 12:00 noon ET (9:00 am PT) to review these fourth quarter results. To access the call, dial the Conferencing operator ten minutes prior to the start of the call at (416) 340-8018, or toll free at (866) 223-7781. A playback version of the conference call will be available for three weeks at (905) 694-9451, or toll free at (800) 408-3053. The passcode for the playback version is 2530127. There will be a simultaneous audio-only webcast of the conference call, which can be accessed from our website at www.methanex.com. The webcast will be available on our website for three weeks following the call.
Methanex is a Vancouver-based, publicly traded company and is the world’s largest supplier of methanol to major international markets. Methanex shares are listed for trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange in Canada under the trading symbol “MX”, on the NASDAQ Global Market in the United States under the trading symbol “MEOH”, and on the foreign securities market of the Santiago Stock Exchange in Chile under the trading symbol “Methanex”. Methanex can be visited online at www.methanex.com.
FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION WARNING
This Fourth Quarter 2011 press release contains forward-looking statements with respect to us and the chemical industry. Refer to Forward-Looking Information Warning in the attached Fourth Quarter 2011 Management’s Discussion and Analysis for more information.
| (1) | Adjusted EBITDA is a non-IFRS measure which does not have any standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS. Adjusted EBITDA represents the amount that is attributable to Methanex shareholders and is calculated by deducting the amount of Adjusted EBITDA associated with the 40% non-controlling interest in the methanol facility in Egypt. Commencing with this fourth quarter interim report, we have modified our definition of Adjusted EBITDA to exclude the mark-to-market impact of items which impact the comparability of our earnings from one period to another, which currently include only the mark-to-market impact of share-based compensation as a result of changes in our share price. Refer to the Financial Results section for a discussion of this change and Additional Information – Supplemental Non-IFRS Measures for a reconciliation to the most comparable IFRS measure. |
| (2) | For the year ended December 31, 2011, diluted net income per common share is $0.10 lower than basic net income per common share. The large difference between diluted and basic net income per common share is due to the basis for the calculation of diluted net income per common share differing from the accounting treatment for certain types of share-based compensation. See note 8 of the Company’s condensed consolidated interim financial statements for the calculation of diluted net income per common share. |
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For further information, contact:
Jason Chesko
Director, Investor Relations
Methanex Corporation
604-661-2600
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