Solutia swings to 3Q pft, boosts EBIDTA view; results beat

Solutia Inc., [St. Louis,] swung to a third-quarter profit amid a year-earlier loss from discontinued operations and rising margins, and the results widely beat analysts' views.

The specialty-chemicals company again boosted its full-year outlook for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization from continuing operations to a range of $350 million to $365 million, citing overall demand rising in the third quarter, from last month's view of $340 million to $360 million.

Shares rose 2.4 percent, to $13, in after-hours trading.

Solutia and its peers have been hurt in the past year by slumping demand across global construction, automotive and industrial markets. Solutia's business mix is vulnerable to the economic cycle and volatility in commodity costs. In July, the company reported it swung to a second-quarter profit on higher margins, which more than offset lower sales. Lower demand was expected to hurt results in the third quarter, but improve a bit in the fourth quarter.

Chairman and Chief Executive Jeffry Quinn attributed the profit to improvement in sales volumes and cost cuts taken early in the recession, according to an Oct. 26 report in The Wall Street Journal.

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