Matson, Inc. Income Drops

Matson, Inc. reported net income of $9.9 million, or $0.23 per diluted share for the quarter ended June 30.

The company’s second quarter results were negatively impacted by $13.5 million of additional selling, general and administrative expenses related to the company’s acquisition of Horizon Lines, Inc. in excess of the company’s incremental run-rate target and by $11.4 million of costs related to the company’s settlement with the State of Hawaii to resolve all claims arising from the discharge of molasses into Honolulu Harbor in September 2013, which together reduced earnings per diluted share by $0.33.

Net income for the quarter ended June 30, 2014 was $18.1 million, or $0.42 per diluted share. Consolidated revenue for the second quarter 2015 was $447.6 million compared with $436.4 million reported for the second quarter 2014.

For the six months ending on June 30, Matson reported net income of $34.9 million, or $0.79 per diluted share compared with $21.5 million, or $0.50 per diluted share in 2014.  Year-to-date 2015 results were also negatively impacted by the additional selling, general and administrative expenses related to the Acquisition and the costs related to the Molasses Settlement.  Consolidated revenue for the six-month period ended June 30, 2015 was $845.8 million, compared with $828.9 million in 2014.

Matt Cox, Matson’s President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “Our core businesses delivered strong results in the second quarter, led by continued levels of exceptional demand for our premium expedited China service, yield improvements in Hawaii and Guam, further improvements at SSAT, and, for the first time, operating results from our Alaska acquisition.  However, these favorable operational gains were offset by costs related to our Alaska acquisition and, more recently, the resolution of the molasses incident.”

Mr. Cox added, “In Alaska, we’re off to a good start and our integration is progressing as planned.  We are on track to achieve our earnings and cash flow accretion expectations for this business within two years.  Looking ahead to the balance of 2015, we expect Ocean Transportation operating income to moderately exceed 2014 levels and we expect our core businesses to continue to generate significant cash flow to pay down debt, fund growth initiatives, including our new vessel investments, and return capital to shareholders.”