ASHLAND (ASH) saw its loss widen to $276 million, or $4.46 a share for the quarter ended Sep. 30, 2016. In the previous year period, the company reported a loss of $55 million, or $0.82 a share.
Revenue during the quarter went down marginally by 2.50 percent to $1,248 million from $1,280 million in the previous year period. Gross margin for the quarter expanded 599 basis points over the previous year period to 30.21 percent. Operating margin for the quarter stood at negative 11.70 percent as compared to a negative 7.89 percent for the previous year period.
Operating loss for the quarter was $146 million, compared with an operating loss of $101 million in the previous year period.
Operating cash flow improves significantlyASHLAND has generated cash of $703 million from operating activities during the year, up 689.89 percent or $614 million, when compared with the last year. The company has spent $332 million cash to meet investing activities during the year as against cash outgo of $417 million in the last year. It has incurred net capital expenditure of $298 million on net basis during the year, up 13.74 percent or $36 million from year ago.
The company has spent $394 million cash to carry out financing activities during the year as against cash outgo of $30 million in the last year period.
Cash and cash equivalents stood at $1,188 million as on Sep. 30, 2016, down 5.49 percent or $69 million from $1,257 million on Sep. 30, 2015.
Working capital declines
ASHLAND has witnessed a decline in the working capital over the last year. It stood at $1,650 million as at Sep. 30, 2016, down 8.33 percent or $150 million from $1,800 million on Sep. 30, 2015. Current ratio was at 2.36 as on Sep. 30, 2016, up from 2.24 on Sep. 30, 2015.
Debt comes downASHLAND has recorded a decline in total debt over the last one year. It stood at $3,244 million as on Sep. 30, 2016, down 13.01 percent or $485 million from $3,729 million on Sep. 30, 2015. Total debt was 33.45 percent of total assets as on Sep. 30, 2016, compared with 37.05 percent on Sep. 30, 2015. Debt to equity ratio was at 1.02 as on Sep. 30, 2016, down from 1.23 as on Sep. 30, 2015. Disclaimer: Please note that this is an auto-generated article. IRIS does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information. IRIS especially states that it has no financial liability whatsoever to any user on account of the use of information provided on its website. For queries contact: editor@irisindia.net
