Clean Harbors 4Q net income rises 62 pct
Clean Harbors posts 62 pct jump in 4th-qtr net income helped by tax benefit
NORWELL, Mass. (AP) -- Environmental services company Clean Harbors Inc. said Wednesday its fourth-quarter net income rose 62 percent, helped by a hefty tax benefit.
The Norwell, Mass.-based company earned $61.9 million, or $1.11 per share in the last three months of 2012. That was up from $38.2 million, or 72 cents per share, in the 2011 fourth quarter.
The recent quarter's results included a $52.4 million tax benefit, which was partially offset by $7.5 million in costs related to an acquisition.
Revenue rose 2 percent to $559 million from $545.9 million.
Analysts, on average, expected a profit of 40 cents per share on $538.3 million in revenue, according to FactSet.
Revenue at the company's technical services division increased 2 percent to $238.9 million on strong demand for its incinerators and landfills, while industrial services revenue rose 14 percent to $142.8 million helped by lodging, specialty services and oil sands-related work.
Revenue at the company's field services business jumped 32 percent to $75.7 million, boosted by $12 million in clean-up work related to Superstorm Sandy.
For the full year 2012, the company earned $129.7 million, or $2.40 per share, up from $127.3 million, or $2.39 per share, in 2011. Revenue rose to $2.19 billion from $1.98 billion.
Clean Harbors said it's now targeting 2013 cost savings related to its acquisition of Safety-Kleen, which closed in December, at between $60 million and $65 million, up from its previous target of $30 million.
The company also predicted 2013 revenue of between $3.72 billion and $3.77 billion, while analysts expect $3.71 billion.
Wedbush analyst Al Kaschalk said the better-than-expected revenue results reflected strong performance across all of its businesses, particularly its field services unit.
The analyst said the company showed that the integration of Safety Kleen is on track. He kept an "Outperform" rating on the stock and a $70 price target.
Shares of Clean Harbors rose $2.98, or 5.9 percent, to close at $53.28, after peaking at $54.54 earlier in the session. Over the past 52 weeks, the shares have traded between $46.94 and $71.63.
