Net income for the 2Q was $1.6 million, or $0.08 per diluted share compared to net income attributable to Koppers of $14.4 million, or $0.69 per diluted share in the second quarter of 2013.
Commenting on the results, Walt Turner, president and CEO of Koppers, said, "We continue to operate against industry headwinds and remain challenged in our global CMC business due to lower demand in certain regions, which resulted in reduced sales prices and volumes compared to the prior year. However, we have moved aggressively to rationalize capacity in Europe and are evaluating similar steps in North America, which will lower our overall cost structure and improve our capacity utilization and profitability in those regions. We are currently seeing the benefits of these actions in Europe, where our profitability increased substantially in the second quarter on similar sales volumes.
“We continue to look for opportunities to optimize our production facilities and reduce our cost structure, including our recent announcement that we are applying for permits to construct a new chemicals plant at our Stickney, Illinois facility producing naphthalene and other refined chemicals, which would provide the opportunity to reduce the number of distillation facilities in the U.S. and further improve our cost structure. Our North American railroad business continues to be impacted by reduced hardwood lumber availability, but we are beginning to see increased availability and are optimistic that the second half of the year will be stronger than the first half for this business as we see supplies improve."
Adjusted EBITDA was $27.3 million compared to $37.2 million in the 2Q 2013 due to the items that impacted adjusted net income and adjusted EPS as noted above.
Koppers is a global integrated producer of carbon compounds and treated wood products.
