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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, DC 20549
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FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of report (Date of earliest event reported): March 23, 2006
POLYONE CORPORATION
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(Exact name of registrant as specified in charter)
Ohio 1-16091 34-1730488
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(State or other jurisdiction (Commission (I.R.S. Employer
of incorporation) File Number) Identification No.)
PolyOne Center, 33587 Walker Road, Avon Lake, Ohio 44012
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(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (440) 930-1000
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(Former name or former address, if changed since last report.)
Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to
simultaneously satisfy the filing requirements of the registrant under any of
the following provisions:
[ ] Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities
Act (17 CFR 230.425)
[ ] Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange
Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
[ ] Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the
Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
[ ] Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the
Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13E-4(c))
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Item 7.01 - Regulation FD Disclosure.
On March 23, 2006, the Registrant issued a press release, furnished herewith as
Exhibit 99.1, updating its first-quarter 2006 financial outlook. The press
release shall not be deemed to be "filed" under the Securities Exchange Act of
1934.
Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.
(d) Exhibits.
Exhibit 99.1 - Press release dated March 23, 2006, furnished herewith.
SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
POLYONE CORPORATION
By: /s/ Michael J. Meier
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Michael J. Meier
Corporate Controller
Dated: March 23, 2006
Exhibit 99.1
POLYONE UPDATES 2006 FIRST-QUARTER OUTLOOK
CLEVELAND, March 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- PolyOne Corporation (NYSE: POL)
today updated its outlook for the first quarter ending March 31, 2006. This
action is part of PolyOne's continuing effort to keep investors informed of
current business conditions.
Following is a summary of conditions within the business segments:
- Performance Plastics - PolyOne anticipates that first-quarter sales will
increase 4 percent to 7 percent compared with the first quarter of 2005.
Demand has increased seasonally over the fourth quarter of 2005. PolyOne
projects that shipments will be 3 percent to 6 percent higher than in the
fourth quarter, and will approximate first-quarter 2005 levels.
International shipments (Europe and Asia) appear particularly strong
compared with first-quarter 2005 levels.
Reaffirming its earlier projection, PolyOne anticipates that product
spreads (selling price less raw material costs) will improve compared
with the first quarter of 2005. The Company expects that, in combination,
the above factors should result in stronger segment operating income
compared with the first quarter of 2005 and substantially higher earnings
compared with the fourth quarter of 2005.
- Distribution - Shipment volume is developing as anticipated and should be
3 percent to 6 percent higher than in the first quarter of 2005. Year
over year, sales should increase more than 10 percent despite lower
selling prices for commodity and some engineering-grade resins,
reflective of a current softening of broad market pricing. PolyOne
expects that segment operating income, paced by the higher shipments,
will be in line with both the first and fourth quarters of 2005.
- Resin and Intermediates - Industry spreads for polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
resins in the first quarter should hold or improve moderately compared
with year-end 2005 levels, due primarily to lower ethylene costs. In
addition, PolyOne's equity joint ventures, SunBelt Chlor- Alkali and Oxy
Vinyls, LP, should benefit in the first quarter from sustained strength
in caustic soda and chlorine spreads. PolyOne anticipates that strong
chlor-alkali earnings will approximate fourth- quarter 2005 levels.
The combination of these factors should result in higher Resin and
Intermediates earnings than anticipated in PolyOne's February 7, 2006,
earnings release. Further, the Company projects that the segment's
first-quarter 2006 operating income should improve compared with the
first and fourth quarters of 2005.
As a result of these business segment conditions, PolyOne now expects
first-quarter 2006 financial results to be better than anticipated at the end of
2005, exceeding first-quarter 2005 results.
PolyOne continues to project full-year 2006 cash generation well above the 2005
level, even though the Company expects negative operating cash flow generation
in the first quarter. PolyOne anticipates, however, that the negative
first-quarter level will be less than both its earlier projection and the
first-quarter 2005 level.
About PolyOne
PolyOne Corporation, with 2005 annual revenues of approximately $2.5 billion, is
a leading global polymer compounding and services company and a North American
distributor of thermoplastic resins. Product offerings include vinyl and other
thermoplastic compounds, polymer coating systems, color and additive
masterbatches, and specialty vinyl resins. Headquartered in northeast Ohio,
PolyOne has joint ventures in North America and South America and manufacturing
facilities in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Information on
PolyOne's products and services can be found at www.polyone.com.
Forward-looking Statements
In this press release, statements that are not reported financial results or
other historical information are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning
of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward- looking
statements give current expectations or forecasts of future events and are not
guarantees of future performance. They are based on management's expectations
that involve a number of business risks and uncertainties, any of which could
cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by
the forward-looking statements. You can identify these statements by the fact
that they do not relate strictly to historic or current facts. They use words
such as "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "project," "intend," "plan,"
"believe" and other words and terms of similar meaning in connection with any
discussion of future operating or financial performance. In particular, these
include statements relating to future actions; prospective changes in raw
material costs, product pricing or product demand; future performance,
including, without limitation, meeting cash flow goals, receiving cash
distributions from equity affiliates and achieving working capital targets;
results of current and anticipated market conditions and market strategies;
sales efforts; expenses; the outcome of contingencies such as legal proceedings;
financial results. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially
include, but are not limited to:
- the effect on foreign operations of currency fluctuations, tariffs,
nationalization, exchange controls, limitations on foreign investment in
local businesses and other political, economic and regulatory risks;
- changes in U.S., regional or world polymer consumption growth rates
affecting PolyOne's markets;
- changes in global industry capacity or in the rate at which anticipated
changes in industry capacity come online in the polyvinyl chloride (PVC),
chlor-alkali, vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) or other industries in which
PolyOne participates;
- fluctuations in raw material prices, quality and supply and in energy
prices and supply, in particular fluctuations outside the normal range of
industry cycles;
- production outages or material costs associated with scheduled or
unscheduled maintenance programs;
- costs or difficulties and delays related to the operation of joint
venture entities;
- lack of day-to-day operating control, including procurement of raw
materials, of equity or joint venture affiliates;
- partial control over investment decisions and dividend distribution
policy of the OxyVinyls partnership and other minority equity holdings of
PolyOne;
- an inability to launch new products and/or services within PolyOne's
various businesses;
- the possibility of further goodwill impairment;
- an inability to maintain any required licenses or permits;
- an inability to comply with any environmental laws and regulations;
- the cost of compliance with environmental laws and regulations,
including any increased cost of complying with new or revised laws and
regulations;
- unanticipated developments that could occur with respect to contingencies
such as litigation and environmental matters, including any developments
that would require any increase in our costs and/or reserves for such
contingencies;
- an inability to achieve or delays in achieving or achievement of less
than the anticipated financial benefit from initiatives related to cost
reductions and employee productivity goals;
- a delay or inability to achieve targeted debt level reductions through
divestitures and/or other means;
- an inability to access the revolving credit facility and/or the
receivables sale facility as a result of breaching covenants due to not
achieving anticipated earnings performance or for any other reason;
- any poor performance of our pension plan assets and any obligation on our
part to fund PolyOne's pension plan;
- any delay and/or inability to bring the North American Color and
Additives Masterbatch and the Engineered Materials product platforms to
profitability;
- an inability to raise prices or sustain price increases for products;
- an inability to achieve anticipated earnings performance due to the
divestment of a non-core business;
- an inability to maintain appropriate relations with unions and employees
in certain locations in order to avoid disruptions of business; and
- other factors affecting our business beyond our control, including,
without limitation, changes in the general economy, changes in interest
rates and changes in the rate of inflation.
We cannot guarantee that any forward-looking statement will be realized,
although we believe we have been prudent in our plans and assumptions.
Achievement of future results is subject to risks, uncertainties and inaccurate
assumptions. Should known or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, or
should underlying assumptions prove inaccurate, actual results could vary
materially from those anticipated, estimated or projected. Investors should bear
this in mind as they consider forward-looking statements.
We undertake no obligation to publicly update forward-looking statements,
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. You are
advised, however, to consult any further disclosures we make on related subjects
in our reports on Form 10-Q, 8-K and 10-K provided to the Securities and
Exchange Commission. You should understand that it is not possible to predict or
identify all risk factors. Consequently, you should not consider any list to be
a complete set of all potential risks or uncertainties. (Ref. #32306)
SOURCE PolyOne Corporation
-0- 03/23/2006
/CONTACT: Dennis Cocco, Vice President, Investor Relations &
Communications of PolyOne Corporation, +1-440-930-1538/
/Web site: http://www.polyone.com/
(POL)