The hottest PPG released the fourth quarter and fu

PPG announced its financial statements for the fourth quarter and the whole year of 2018

in the fourth quarter of 2018, its continuing operations achieved net sales of about $3.6 billion, with sales settled in constant currency rising by about 2% year-on-year

in the fourth quarter, its continuing operations achieved diluted earnings per share of $1.07 and adjusted diluted earnings per share of $1.15

thanks to the increase in average sales price and active cost control, The year-on-year growth rate of profit margin continued to recover

recently announced three major acquisitions, continued to repurchase shares, and completed the strategic cash deployment goal

Pittsburgh, the United States, January 21, 2019 - PPG (New York Stock Exchange code: PPG) recently announced the financial report for the fourth quarter of 2018, and the net sales of continuing operations were about $600million, down 1% from the same period last year. Sales settled in constant currency increased by about 2% year-on-year, mainly due to the increase of average sales price by more than 2% year-on-year. The overall sales volume in the fourth quarter fell by 1% year-on-year. Exchange losses dragged down net sales by about US $110million, with an impact of 3%. Acquisition businesses (excluding divested businesses) contributed less than 1% of sales growth

in the fourth quarter of 2018, the net profit from continuing operations was $256 million, equivalent to $1.07 diluted earnings per share. Adjusted net profit from continuing operations amounted to $271million, equivalent to diluted earnings per share of $1.15. In the fourth quarter of 2017, the net profit from continuing operations was $148 million, equivalent to $0.58 per share, and the adjusted net profit was $305 million, equivalent to $1.19 per share. In the fourth quarter of 2018, the effective tax rate was 24%, and the adjusted tax rate was about 26%

Michael H. McGarry, chairman and CEO of PPG, said: "In the fourth quarter, our net sales settled in local currency increased by about 2%, mainly driven by the rise of sales prices for seven consecutive quarters. In this quarter, we continue to strive to restore the operating profit margin to last year's level. The increase in selling prices and continuous cost control have eased the pressure caused by the rise in input costs to a certain extent. However, the slowdown in global economic growth and the decline in demand in some end markets have increased our sales Long has brought a certain negative impact

"Throughout 2018, the entire coating industry was facing the pressure of rising raw material and logistics costs quarter by quarter. Nevertheless, we still achieved the growth of earnings per share after the annual adjustment. In addition to raising product prices, we also actively adjusted the company's cost structure, reducing costs by about $80million throughout the year, reaching the upper edge of the previous cost reduction target range. From a strategic perspective, PPG announced six acquisitions in the past year, including Including the recent SEM, Whitford and hemmelrath acquisitions

"our operating cash flow is still strong, and the annual cash flow from our main business is about $1.5 billion, the same as that in 2017. In addition, we continue to maintain the tradition of returning cash to shareholders, returning a total of $2.2 billion to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends in 2018." McGarry pointed out

"If we fix the oil delivery valve of the experimental machine and look ahead to the future, we are still confident that we are in a favorable position in terms of strategy and finance, but it is expected that the uncertainty of the global economic outlook in 2019 will rise. The tail raising effect caused by the rising cost in the first half of 2018, coupled with very adverse exchange factors and a small decline in sales, may affect PPG's performance in the first half of 2019. Therefore, we currently expect the company to achieve Diluted earnings per share 1 23 dollars. We will continue to focus on improving performance and will provide detailed 2019 annual performance forecasts and financial targets in a separate draft. " McGarry concluded

the company achieved a cash flow of $1.5 billion from operating activities throughout the year. In 2018, PPG repurchased more than US $1.7 billion of shares and distributed US $450million in dividends. Net capex totaled approximately $410million. By the end of 2018, the company's total book liabilities were about $5billion, cash and short-term investments were about $1billion. By the end of the year, the stock repurchase fund authorized by the board of directors was still $1.8 billion

summary of performance of all business departments in the fourth quarter of 2018

the high-performance coating business achieved net sales of $2.1 billion in the fourth quarter, an increase of $16million over the same period last year, an increase of nearly 1% year-on-year. Sales settled in constant currency increased by more than 3%, mainly due to the rise in sales prices. Acquisition related businesses contributed about $15million in sales, including the recent acquisition of SEM, a manufacturer of automotive touch up paint. The sales volume in this quarter was basically the same as that in the same period of last year. The adjustment of national retail (DIY) customer classification dragged down the overall sales volume of high-performance coating business by about US $40million, with an impact range of about 2%. Adverse exchange rate factors have a negative impact on net sales of about $55million, with an impact range of nearly 3%

thanks to the continuous strong demand for PPG high-tech products in major markets, the sales volume of aviation coatings increased by more than 10%. The endogenous sales of automotive touch up paint business were basically flat, mainly due to the negative impact of American customers' de stocking, which offset the growth of other markets. The total sales volume of industrial protection and marine coatings has achieved high single digit growth, and the sales volume of each end market has rebounded. The endogenous sales of architectural coatings in the Americas and the Asia Pacific region fell by a low single digit compared with the same period last year, and the performance of various channels and regions was uneven. Among them, the same store sales of self operated stores in the United States and Canada achieved low single digit growth, while the total sales of national retail (DIY) customers and independent dealer channels fell significantly compared with the same period last year due to the negative impact of customer classification adjustment. The sales volume of architectural coatings in Latin America achieved medium single digit growth, of which the sales volume in Mexico market increased significantly. The sales of architectural coatings in Europe, the Middle East and Africa showed a medium single digit increase over the same period last year, thanks to the increase in both sales volume and sales price

although the exchange loss dragged down the net profit of about $5million, the high-performance coating business achieved a net profit of $261million in the fourth quarter, an increase of $2million over the same period last year. The main driving force for the recovery of net profit came from the rise in selling prices and active cost control, offsetting the impact of lower sales and rising raw material prices and logistics costs

the net sales of industrial coatings business in the fourth quarter was about US $1.5 billion, a decrease of US $53 million over the same period last year, with a year-on-year decline of more than 3%, of which the average sales price rose by about 2% year-on-year, offsetting the negative impact of a 2% decline in sales to a certain extent. Exchange losses dragged down sales of about $5500, although the fluctuation of $million in water should be taken into account, with an impact range of more than 3%

due to the weak demand in China and Europe, the paint sales of automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) fell by about 5% year-on-year, in line with the growth rate of global automobile production. The sales volume of industrial coatings and special coatings and materials achieved a low single digit growth year-on-year, among which the sales volume in the United States and Canada increased steadily, offsetting the impact of the downturn in the Asia Pacific market. The sales volume of packaging coatings further achieved a low single digit growth on the basis of last year's high base

in the fourth quarter, the industrial coating business achieved a net profit of 187 million US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 27 million US dollars, a decrease of about 13%, of which the adverse exchange rate factors dragged down the net profit of about 5 million US dollars. The decline in net profit was mainly due to the continuous rise in raw material and logistics costs, and the slowdown in the growth of global automobile production, while the rise in sales prices and active cost control offset the negative effects of the above factors to a certain extent

list of annual performance in 2018

in 2018, the net sales of continuing operations were about $15.4 billion, up about 4% year-on-year, of which the contribution of exchange earnings was about $105million, equivalent to about 1%. The sales of the original business achieved an endogenous growth of 3%, and the sales of the acquisition business increased by nearly 1% year-on-year

the company achieved a net profit of US $1.3 billion from continuing operations throughout the year, equivalent to diluted earnings per share of US $5.40; In 2017, the net profit was $1.4 billion (diluted per share, the beneficial conditions for China's plastic extruder's foreign trade export are increasing, and the income is $5.31). Adjusted diluted earnings per share from continuing operations was $5.92, compared with $5.86 in 2017. The effective tax rate of continuing operations in 2018 was about 21%, and the adjusted effective tax rate was about 22%; The effective tax rate in 2017 was 31%, and the adjusted effective tax rate was 24%. The company expects the global effective tax rate range to be% in 2019