Commenting on the effects of Hurricane Harvey, Douglas M. Baker, Jr.,
Ecolab’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer said, “The damage caused
by Hurricane Harvey to the people in its path has been immense and
tragic. We are pleased that our Ecolab associates are safe and we are
supporting them in the recovery. Our hearts and best wishes go out to
everyone affected by the storms as they seek to rebuild. To assist, we
have donated 10 truckloads of cleaning and sanitizing products and are
matching our global associates’ financial contributions for those in
need in the affected area.
“The effects of the hurricane on our customers, our plants and
operations and our raw material costs are still playing out and it is
too early to formally quantify them. However, a number of our industrial
and refining customers were forced to shut down their operations, as we
were for our three manufacturing plants in the Houston area. As a
result, we currently believe the impact could result in third quarter
adjusted diluted earnings per share on the low end or slightly below our
previously forecasted $1.36 to $1.44 range, and likely on the lower end
of our full year 2017 range of $4.70 to $4.90. We expect to update our
full year 2017 guidance on or before the third quarter earnings release.
“Importantly, we believe Hurricane Harvey’s impact will be temporary,
and that the fundamental strengthening trends within our business sales
and margins are continuing and will be reflected in our results going
forward. We do not believe there will be any meaningful impact on our
2018 results. Obviously, this does not include prospective impacts from
other hurricanes.”
About Ecolab
A trusted partner at more than one million customer locations, Ecolab
(ECL) is the global leader in water, hygiene and energy technologies and
services that protect people and vital resources. With 2016 sales of $13
billion and 48,000 associates, Ecolab delivers comprehensive solutions
and on-site service to promote safe food, maintain clean environments,
optimize water and energy use and improve operational efficiencies for
customers in the food, healthcare, energy, hospitality and industrial
markets in more than 170 countries around the world. For more Ecolab
news and information, visit www.ecolab.com.
Ecolab Inc. will host a live webcast of its biennial meeting for
professional investors on Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017, in St. Paul, Minn.
The event will begin at approximately 9:00 am ET and end at
approximately 3:30 pm ET. The webcast, along with related materials,
will be available to the public on Ecolab's website at www.ecolab.com/investor.
A replay of the webcast and related materials will be available at that
site. Listening to the webcast requires Internet access, the Windows
Media Player or another compatible streaming media player.
Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking
Information
This communication contains certain statements relating to future events
and our intentions, beliefs, expectations and predictions for the future
which are forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words or phrases such
as “will likely result,” “are expected to,” “will continue,” “is
anticipated,” “we believe,” “we expect,” “estimate,” “project,” “may,”
“will,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “target,” “forecast” (including the
negative or variations thereof) or similar terminology used in
connection with any discussion of future plans, actions or events
generally identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking
statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our
forecasted 2017 third quarter and full-year adjusted diluted earnings
per share, Hurricane Harvey’s impact, and our 2018 results. These
statements are based on the current expectations of management of the
company. There are a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause
actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements
included in this communication.
Additional risks and uncertainties that may affect operating results and
business performance are set forth under Item 1A of our most recent Form
10-K, and our other public filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (the "SEC") and include the vitality of the markets we serve,
including the impact of oil price fluctuations on the markets served by
our Global Energy segment; the impact of economic factors such as the
worldwide economy, capital flows, interest rates and foreign currency
risk, including reduced sales and earnings in other countries resulting
from the weakening of local currencies versus the U.S. dollar; our
ability to attract and retain high caliber management talent to lead our
business; our ability to execute key business initiatives; potential
information technology infrastructure failures and cybersecurity
attacks; exposure to global economic, political and legal risks related
to our international operations including with respect to our operations
in Russia; the costs and effects of complying with laws and regulations,
including those relating to the environment and to the manufacture,
storage, distribution, sale and use of our products; the occurrence of
litigation or claims, including related to the Deepwater Horizon oil
spill; our ability to develop competitive advantages through innovation;
difficulty in procuring raw materials or fluctuations in raw material
costs; our substantial indebtedness; our ability to acquire
complementary businesses and to effectively integrate such businesses;
restraints on pricing flexibility due to contractual obligations;
pressure on operations from consolidation of customers, vendors or
competitors; public health epidemics; potential losses arising from the
impairment of goodwill or other assets; potential loss of deferred tax
assets; changes in tax law and unanticipated tax liabilities; potential
chemical spill or release; potential class action lawsuits; the loss or
insolvency of a major customer or distributor; acts of war or terrorism;
natural or man-made disasters; water shortages; severe weather
conditions; and other uncertainties or risks reported from time to time
in our reports to the SEC. In light of these risks, uncertainties,
assumptions and factors, the forward-looking events discussed in this
communication may not occur. We caution that undue reliance should not
be placed on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date
made. Ecolab does not undertake, and expressly disclaims, any duty to
update any forward-looking statement whether as a result of new
information, future events or changes in expectations, except as
required by law.
Non-GAAP Financial Information
This news release includes estimates for adjusted earnings per share,
which is a financial measure that has not been calculated in accordance
with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. (“GAAP”).
We provide this measure as additional information regarding our
operating results. We use this non-GAAP measure internally to evaluate
our performance and in making financial and operational decisions,
including with respect to incentive compensation. We believe that our
presentation of this measure provides investors with greater
transparency with respect to our results of operations and that this
measure is useful for period-to-period comparison of results.
Our non-GAAP financial measure for diluted earnings per share, which we
refer to as adjusted diluted earnings per share, excludes the impact of
special (gains) and charges and discrete tax items. We include items
within special (gains) and charges and discrete tax items that we
believe can significantly affect the period-over-period assessment of
operating results and not necessarily reflect costs associated with
historical trends and future results. After tax special (gains) and
charges are derived by applying the applicable local jurisdictional tax
rate to the corresponding pre-tax special (gains) and charges.
Adjusted earnings per share is a financial measure that is not in
accordance with, or an alternative to, GAAP and may be different from
non-GAAP measures used by other companies. Investors should not rely on
any single financial measure when evaluating our business. We recommend
that investors view non-GAAP financial measures in conjunction with the
GAAP measures.
(ECL-E)
Ecolab Inc.
Michael J. Monahan, 651-250-2809
or
Andrew C. Hedberg, 651-250-2185