Darling Ingredients Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter And Fiscal 2017 Financial Results: Executing World of Growth Strategy

IRVING, Texas, Feb. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE: DAR), a global developer and producer of sustainable natural ingredients from edible and inedible bio-nutrients, creating a wide range of ingredients and customized specialty solutions for customers in the pharmaceutical, food, pet food, feed, industrial, fuel, bioenergy, and fertilizer industries, today announced financial results for the fiscal 2017 fourth quarter and year ended December 30, 2017.

Fourth Quarter 2017 Overview

• Net income of $105.7 million, or $0.63 per GAAP diluted share
• Revenue of $952.5 million, up 7.5%
• Adjusted EBITDA of $115.8 million
• Global raw material volumes up 3.0%
• Deflationary finished product pricing in Feed segment, Consistent performance in Food segment
• Fuel segment reflects improved Q4 biofuel economics without blenders tax credit (BTC)
• Continued deleverage of $43 million

Fiscal 2017 Overview

• Net income of $128.5 million, or $0.77 per GAAP diluted share
• U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and the European tax reform added $0.53 to EPS
• No blenders tax credit in results, will be reported Q1 2018
• Adjusted EBITDA of $438.9 million
• Diamond Green Diesel (DGD) earned $0.54 cents per gallon without BTC
• Debt paydown of $112.5 million
• $61.8 million in working capital improvement

Fourth quarter 2017 net sales of $952.5 million, compared to $885.8 million for fourth quarter 2016.  Net income attributable to Darling for fourth quarter 2017 was $105.7 million, or $0.63 per diluted share, compared to $40.5 million, or $0.25 per diluted share, for fourth quarter 2016.  The increase in net income is due to the reversal of deferred tax liabilities due to the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, benefits from European tax reform, along with improved raw material volumes and pricing across the segments.  Fourth quarter results do not reflect the BTC.

Net Income attributable to Darling for the fiscal year 2017 was $128.5 million, or $0.77 per diluted share, compared to $102.3 million, or $0.62 per diluted share, for the prior year period. The increase in net income is due to the reversal of deferred tax liabilities due to the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act along with benefits from European tax reform.  First quarter 2018 results for Fuel segment will reflect income of $12.6 million from the BTC.

Randall C. Stuewe, Chairman and CEO of Darling Ingredients Inc., said, "We leveraged higher global raw material volumes with consistent margins by managing through deflationary finished product markets in Feed Ingredients. Food Ingredients delivered strong performance across all product lines while managing through continued macroeconomic headwinds in South American markets. DGD delivered $86 million EBITDA (Darling's half being $43 million), or $0.54 per gallon, excluding the BTC. DGD expansion is progressing, with facility expected downtime mid-May for final tie-ins before completion in late Q2 2018."

• Feed Ingredients – EBITDA $313.9 million (up 6.6 percent); Revenue $2,239.5 million (up 7.2 percent); Gross Margin $494.7 million (up 6.5 percent); Raw material processed up 3.3 percent.
• Food Ingredients – EBITDA $131.4 million (flat); Revenue $1,157.0 million (up 9.6 percent); Gross Margin $236.4 million (up 3.9 percent); Raw material processed up 3.7 percent.
• Fuel Ingredients – EBITDA $44.8 million (down 24.6 percent); Revenue $265.8 million (up 7.6 percent); Gross Margin $55.3 million (down 14.4 percent); Raw material processed up 0.85 percent.
• Diamond Green Diesel JV – Delivered solid earnings of $0.54 per gallon, excluding BTC. Including the retroactive BTC, the facility earned $247 million on the sale of 160 million gallons.