THE WOODLANDS, Texas, April 30, 2019 /PRNewswire/ —

First Quarter Highlights

• First quarter 2019 net income of $131 million compared to $350 million in the prior year period; first quarter diluted earnings per share of $0.51 compared to $1.11 in the prior year period.
• First quarter 2019 adjusted net income of $108 million compared to $237 million in the prior year period; first quarter 2019 adjusted diluted earnings per share of $0.46 compared to $0.96 in the prior year period.
• First quarter 2019 adjusted EBITDA of $257 million compared to $405 million in the prior year period.
• First quarter 2019 net cash used in operating activities was $31 million. Free cash flow was a use of $101 million for the quarter.
• Huntsman achieved investment grade rating and issued $750 million of senior notes due 2029. Proceeds were used to redeem $650 million of our senior notes due 2020 and for general corporate purposes. Balance sheet remains strong with a net leverage of 1.6x.
• First quarter 2019 share repurchases of approximately 1.5 million shares for approximately $34 million.
• Segment Analysis for 1Q19 Compared to 1Q18

  Polyurethanes

  The decrease in revenues in our Polyurethanes segment for the three months ended March 31, 2019, compared to the same period of 2018 was due to lower average MDI and MTBE selling prices, partially offset by higher MDI sales volumes. MDI average selling prices decreased primarily due to a decline in polymeric MDI selling prices in China and Europe. MTBE average selling prices decreased primarily as a result of lower pricing for high octane gasoline. MDI sales volumes increased primarily due to the start-up of our new Chinese MDI facility in 2018 and the acquisition of Demilec in the second quarter of 2018. The decrease in adjusted EBITDA was primarily due to lower MDI margins driven by lower MDI pricing and lower MTBE margins, partially offset by higher sales volumes.

• https://seekingalpha.com/pr/17492175-huntsman-announces-first-quarter-2019-earnings-stable-downstream-margins