Rockwood Holdings Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2012 Results

Adjusted EPS from continuing operations - $0.47 versus $0.91 for the quarter and $3.89 versus $4.02 for the full year

Adjusted EBITDA - $141 million versus $196 million for the quarter and $779 million versus $863 million for the full year

PRINCETON, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Rockwood Holdings, Inc. (NYS: ROC) today reported net income from continuing operations of $21.2 million, or $0.26 per share for the fourth quarter of 2012, which included other net charges of $16.8 million, as compared to $63.0 million, or $0.79 per share for the same period in the prior year, which included other net charges of $9.7 million.

Excluding these other net charges, adjusted net income from continuing operations was $38.0 million, or $0.47 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2012 compared to $72.7 million, or $0.91 per share, for the same period in the prior year.

For the full year, reported net income from continuing operations was $383.5 million, or $4.80 per share, which included other net benefits of $72.5 million, as compared to $291.1 million, or $3.64 per share for the prior year, which included other net charges of $30.1 million. Reported net income for the full year of 2012 was favorably impacted by an income tax benefit related to the reversal of a majority of our federal valuation allowance.

Excluding these items, adjusted net income from continuing operations was $311.0 million, or $3.89 per share in 2012, versus $321.2 million, or $4.02 per share in 2011. Year on year performance was down on weak results from Titanium Dioxide Pigments, and to a lesser extent, Performance Additives, which was partially offset by improved results from Lithium, Surface Treatment and our Advanced Ceramics medical business.

Seifi Ghasemi, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "Our two core businesses, Lithium and Surface Treatment, as well as Advanced Ceramics, had a satisfactory performance in the fourth quarter, each with higher Adjusted EBITDA versus last year. The results for our Performance Additives segment were negatively impacted by lower oil and natural gas drilling activity in North America. Our TiO2 business did not perform well due to lower prices and higher raw material costs. As a result of our continued focus on cash, we generated $87 million of free cash in the fourth quarter and nearly $170 million in the second half of 2012."

Business Segment Review

Fourth quarter and full-year net sales and Adjusted EBITDA results, as compared with the same period a year ago, are summarized below:

Table 1: Net Sales

% Change

% Change

($ in millions)

Q4 2012

Q4 2011

Total

ConstantCurrency (a)

FY 2012

FY 2011

Total

ConstantCurrency (a)

Lithium

$

119.1

$

104.6

13.9

%

15.9

%

$

474.4

$

456.5

3.9

%

7.5

%

Surface Treatment

175.5

180.7

(2.9

%)

(1.3

%)

723.2

743.2

(2.7

%)

2.6

%

Performance Additives

151.4

169.7

(10.8

%)

(10.3

%)

731.5

784.4

(6.7

%)

(4.7

%)

Titanium Dioxide Pigments

223.0

195.0

14.4

%

19.2

%

889.4

930.4

(4.4

%)

3.5

%

Advanced Ceramics

129.0

129.8

(0.6

%)

2.7

%

546.7

585.1

(6.6

%)

0.3

%

Corporate and other

31.0

34.6

(10.4

%)

(6.4

%)

141.7

169.7

(16.5

%)

(9.5

%)

Total

$

829.0

$

814.4

1.8

%

4.4

%

$

3,506.9

$

3,669.3

(4.4

%)

1.0

%

Table 2: Adjusted EBITDA

% Change

% Change

($ in millions)

Q4 2012

Q4 2011

Total

ConstantCurrency (a)

FY 2012

FY 2011

Total

ConstantCurrency (a)

Lithium

$

44.0

$

40.3

9.2

%

10.4

%

$

181.9

$

170.2

6.9

%

10.0

%

Surface Treatment

38.6

36.0

7.2

%

8.1

%

155.2

151.0

2.8

%

7.5

%

Performance Additives

17.0

26.6

(36.1

%)

(35.7

%)

124.0

144.0

(13.9

%)

(11.7

%)

Titanium Dioxide Pigments

6.7

64.5

(89.6

%)

(89.3

%)

164.7

257.6

(36.1

%)

(30.8

%)

Advanced Ceramics

38.7

37.3

3.8

%

7.8

%

174.8

183.7

(4.8

%)

2.9

%

Corporate and other

(4.0

)

(9.0

)

55.6

%

57.8

%

(21.7

)

(43.7

)

50.3

%

53.8

%

Total

$

141.0

$

195.7

(28.0

%)

(26.5

%)

$

778.9

$

862.8

(9.7

%)

(4.5

%)

(a) The constant currency effect is the translation impact of the change in the average rate of exchange of another currency to the U.S. dollar for the applicable period as compared to the preceding period. The impact primarily relates to the conversion of the Euro to the U.S. dollar. For the three months ended December 31, 2012 and 2011, the average rate of exchange of the Euro to the U.S. dollar is $1.2979 and $1.3477, respectively and for the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011, the average rate of exchange of the Euro to the U.S. dollar is $1.2864 and $1.3923, respectively. For further details, see Appendix Table A-1

Net sales increased primarily from higher volumes for both lithium carbonate used in battery applications and lithium specialties, and increased selling prices. This was partially offset by the negative impact of currency changes.

Net sales decreased primarily due to lower volumes in Europe, as well as the negative impact of currency changes. This was partially offset by higher selling prices and higher volumes in Asia and the U.S.

Net sales increased from higher volumes, particularly driven by the acquisition of certain assets of crenox GmbH in July 2012. This was partially offset by lower selling prices and the negative impact of currency changes.

Commenting on the outlook, Mr. Ghasemi said, "Rockwood is very well positioned to benefit from any improvement in the economy. We are optimistic about the performance of our Lithium, Surface Treatment and Advanced Ceramics businesses as we move forward. Our Performance Additives segment is anticipated to benefit from any strengthening of the U.S. housing market. We expect our TiO2 business to have a weak performance in the first half of the year with results improving in the second half should pricing and raw material costs stabilize."

Conference Call and Webcast

On February 19, 2013 at 10:00 am EST, Rockwood Holdings plans to host its conference call and webcast to discuss these results.

To access this conference call, the dial-in number in the U.S. is (877) 209-9921, and the international dial-in number is (612) 332-0637. No access code is needed for either call. A listen-only, live webcast of the conference call will also be available at www.rocksp.com. Materials for the call, including the earnings release and presentation, will be available for download on the company's website on the morning of the call. For persons unable to listen to the live conference call or webcast, a webcast replay of the call will be available on Rockwood's website.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This press release includes "non-GAAP financial measures," such as, a discussion of Adjusted EBITDA, free cash flow and net income/diluted earnings per share from continuing operations excluding certain items. Adjusted EBITDA is not intended to be an alternative to net income as an indicator of operating performance or to cash flows from operating activities as a measure of liquidity. Additionally, Adjusted EBITDA is not intended to be a measure of free cash flow for management's discretionary use, as it does not consider certain cash requirements such as interest payments, tax payments and debt service requirements. All presentations of consolidated Adjusted EBITDA are calculated using the definition set forth in the Company's senior secured credit agreement as a basis and reflects management's interpretations thereof.Adjusted EBITDA, which is referred to under the senior secured credit agreement as "Consolidated EBITDA," is defined in the senior secured credit agreement as consolidated earnings (which, as defined in the senior secured credit agreement, equals income (loss) before the deduction of income taxes of Rockwood Specialties Group, Inc. and the Restricted Subsidiaries (as such term is defined in the senior secured credit agreement), excluding extraordinary items) plus certain items including interest expense, depreciation expense, amortization expense, extraordinary losses and non-recurring charges, losses on asset sales, less certain items including extraordinary gains and non-recurring gains, non-cash gains and gains on asset sales.We use Adjusted EBITDA on a consolidated basis to assess our operating performance, to calculate performance-based cash bonuses and determine whether certain performance-based options and restricted stock units vest (as such bonuses, options and restricted stock units are tied to Adjusted EBITDA), and as a liquidity measure. In addition, we use Adjusted EBITDA to determine compliance with our debt covenants. We also use Adjusted EBITDA on a segment basis as the primary measure used by our chief operating decision maker to evaluate the ongoing performance of our business segments and reporting units. A reconciliation of net income attributable to Rockwood Holdings, Inc. shareholders to Adjusted EBITDA is contained in this press release. We strongly urge you to review the reconciliation. In addition, we discuss sales growth in terms of nominal (actual) and net change (nominal less constant currency impacts).

Free cash flow is not intended to be an alternative to cash flows from operating activities as a measure of liquidity. Our presentation of free cash flow is defined as net cash from operating activities of continuing operations, less capital expenditures, net of proceeds from government grants received, and other items (including, among others, the cash impact of adjustments made to Adjusted EBITDA under our senior secured credit agreement). Management believes that free cash flow is meaningful to investors because it provides an additional measure of liquidity. However, a limitation of free cash flow is that it does not represent the total increase or decrease in cash during the period. An additional limitation associated with the use of this measure is that the term "free cash flow" does not have a standardized meaning. Therefore, other companies may use the same or a similarly named measure but exclude different items or use different computations, which may provide investors a comparable view of our performance in relation to other companies. Management compensates for this limitation by presenting the most comparable GAAP measure, net cash provided by operating activities of continuing operations, with free cash flow within its earnings release and by providing a reconciliation that shows and describes the adjustments made. A reconciliation of net cash provided by operating activities of continuing operations to free cash flow is provided in the accompanying tables.

Neither net income from continuing operations excluding certain items nor diluted earnings per share from continuing operations excluding certain items is intended to be an alternative for net income or diluted earnings per share. Management believes that net income and diluted earnings per share from continuing operations excluding certain items is meaningful to investors because it provides a view of the Company with respect to ongoing operating results. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures are included herein. These non-GAAP measures should not be viewed as an alternative to GAAP measures of performance. Furthermore, these measures may not be consistent with similar measures provided by other companies.

Rockwood Holdings, Inc. is a leading global specialty chemicals and advanced materials company. Rockwood has a worldwide employee base of approximately 10,200 people and annual net sales of $3.5 billion in 2012. Rockwood focuses on global niche segments of the specialty chemicals, pigments and additives and advanced materials markets. For more information on Rockwood, please visitwww.rocksp.com.

* * *

The information set forth in this press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 concerning the business, operations and financial condition of Rockwood Holdings, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates ("Rockwood"). Words such as "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "forecasts," "predicts" and variations of such words or expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Although Rockwood believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that its expectations will be realized. "Forward-looking statements" consist of all non-historical information, including any statements referring to the prospects and future performance of Rockwood. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in Rockwood's forward-looking statements due to numerous known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including, among other things, the "Risk Factors" described in Rockwood's periodic reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Rockwood does not undertake any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which any such statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.