PPG Industries Q4 results top estimates as price hikes boost margins

By Yasin Ebrahim

Investing.com -- PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) reported Thursday fourth-quarter results beat analysts' forecasts as the paint and coatings maker's price hikes helped improve margins just as sales suffered from a slowdown in manufacturing activity and supply chain woes in China. 

PPG Industries shares were slightly higher in after-hours trading following the report.

PPG Industries announced earnings per share of $1.22 on revenue of $4.20 billion. Analysts polled by Investing.com anticipated EPS of $1.13 on revenue of $4.11B.

The beat on the bottom line comes as the company reported "margin recovery with segment earnings growth of more than 20% year-over-year."

"This earnings improvement was driven by aggregate selling price increases that totaled 19% on a two-year stacked basis, as we remained focused on mitigating the significant cumulative cost inflation incurred the past two years," the company said.

Prices in its performance coating and industrial coating segments were hiked by 9% and 13% respectively, year-on-year in Q4.

Looking ahead to Q1, the company guided adjusted EPS in a range of $1.10 to $1.20, with sales volumes expected to be down a mid-single-digit percentage year over year. That compared with Wall Street estimates for EPS of $1.36 on revenue of 4.26B.