Jul. 9--The top executives at Fairlawn-based A. Schulman Inc. say they're happy with how the polymer company performed in its third quarter that closed at the end of May.

But the economic road ahead remains foggy, they cautioned, even as they expect the resin maker and plastics compounder to keep progressing in reducing costs, increasing market share and improving profitability.

Schulman late Tuesday reported a profitable third quarter. The company made $7.4 million, or 29 cents per share. That was an increase of 4.2 percent from $7.1 million or 26 cents per share a year ago. Net sales were $297.7 million, down 41.8 percent from $511.8 million a year ago.

For the nine months of the company's fiscal year, Schulman reported net sales of $958.8 million, down 35.6 percent from $1.49 billion for the same period a year ago. Net income was $5.1 million or 20 cents per share, down 61.7 percent from $13.3 million or 49 cents per share for the first nine months last year.

Shares on Wednesday rose 65 cents to $17.14. Shares are up 2.9 percent, including reinvested dividends, since Jan. 1 but are down 22.7 percent from a year ago.

Schulman plans to cut jobs at its European operations and is shutting down its Invision plastic sheet operations in Sharon Center. The company said it expects to take a charge on the costs related to those decisions later this year.

North American volume was down by 47 percent and the division had operating losses of $2 million, compared to a loss of $3.1 million a year ago, the company said.

"Overall, we continue to see progress with our strategic plan to become the number one global player in the masterbatch and rotomolding markets," Joe Gingo, Schulman's chairman, president and CEO, said in a conference call with investors and industry analysts on Wednesday. "At the same time, we continue to aggressively control cost and efficiency."

In North America, cost reductions helped offset declining sales in the third quarter, said Paul DeSantis, Schulman's chief financial officer, vice president and treasurer.

The company has spent about $22 million on capital improvements, mainly related to completing the new Akron masterbatch facility, DeSantis said.

Gingo said the decision announced on June 29 to close down the Invision fa

cility was a difficult one.

"We still believe the technology has excellent potential for a variety of applications outside our core markets," he said. "We've aggressively sought a strategic partner or acquirer for this business. However, since we were not able to reach an agreement with any of the interested parties that was acceptable to us, and we were continuing to lose money with the manufacturing of Invision sheet, we've decided to close our manufacturing facility."

The company's fourth quarter, which includes its typically slower business months of July and August, might not see the same improvements the company had in the third quarter compared to a year ago, Gingo said.

"Additionally, it is not clear the economy is recovering," he said.

Gingo said he did not see anything in June "that showed either a significant recovery or any type of significant decline."

Asia appears to be the part of the world that is recovering faster than other markets, he said.

Jim Mackinnon can be reached at 330-996-3544 or jmackinnon@thebeaconjournal.com.

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