On January 19, Matson Inc. (MATX) announced preliminary Q4 2021 results along with business updates and conference call date. Consequently, the stock advanced further in the pre-market.
In regular trading on Wednesday, the stock varied between $86.92 and $84.75. MATX closed the session at $85.92, gaining a small 0.68%. Following the announcement, the stock increased by 7.22% in the pre-market to reach $92.12.
The logistics and transportations services provider, Matson Inc. has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion. Currently, its 42.03 million shares are outstanding in the market.
MATX Q4 Preliminary Results
For the fourth quarter of 2021, the company expects Ocean Transportation’s operating income to be between $445.0 million and $455.0 million.
Moreover, the operating income for Logistics is expected to be in the range of $14.0 to $15.0 million for the Q4 of 2021.
Also, the net income for the fourth quarter of 2021 is expected to be between $365.2 million and $382.4 million. Subsequently, the expected diluted earnings per share for the quarter are between $8.70 and $9.10.
Additionally, the company is set to hold a conference call for the fourth-quarter earnings on February 17, 2022.
Business Updates
Added to the preliminary results, MATX also provided business updates for the quarter ended December 31, 2021. In comparison to the year-ago period, the Tradelane Volume (FEU: Forty-foot equivalent units) in the Q4 2021 are:
- 10.4% increase in Hawaii container volume.
- 10.2% increase in Alaska volume
- 32.7% increase in China volume
- 14.0% increase in Guam volume
- 14.3% increase in the volume of other containers
Furthermore, as of December 31, the company’s cash and cash equivalents were $280.0 million.
In addition, MATX had total debt (before reduction for deferred loan fees) of $629.0 million at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021.
Share Repurchase Update
On August 03, 2021, the company initiated a share repurchase program, under which 2.5 million shares have been repurchased till December 31, 2021. These shares have been repurchased for a total cost of $200.1 million approx. Currently, 0.5 million shares are reaming in the share repurchase program (as of December 31, 2021).
MATX Quarterly Dividend
Previously, on October 28, the company’s board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share for the fourth quarter of 2021. The record date for the dividend was November 11, 2021. The dividend was payable by December 2, 2021, to all shareholders of record.