Earnings fell at US Ecology, Boise, Idaho, in the fourth quarter, which the environmental services company and manager of several nuclear waste disposal sites attributed mostly to another large charge related to its 2019 acquisition of an oil-and-gas cleanup business.
U.S. Ecology posted a net lost for the fourth quarter ended December 31 of $97.1 million, or $2.97 a share, significantly worse than its loss of $3.5 million, or $0.12 a share, in the year-ago quarter. Quarterly revenue was $241.1 million, up year-over-year from $231.3 million.
Ignoring, among other things, the quarter’s roughly $105-million goodwill charge related to the oil-and-gas cleanup business of the former NRC Group — the 2019 acquisition — U.S. Ecology’s core operations look a little healthier, the company said in its latest earnings report.
On an adjusted basis, and counting only earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), quarterly earnings were $42.8 million, or $0.19 a share, down from $46.2 million, or $0.38 a share, in the year-ago quarter. Quarterly revenue was $241.1 million, up year-over-year from $231.3 million.
For the full year, which included even larger goodwill charges on the former NRC Group business, U.S. Ecology had a net loss of almost $390 million, or $12.51 a share, down from a profit of $33 million, or $1.40 a share, in 2019.
Adjusted EBITDA for all of 2020 was $170.2 million, up from $149.4 in 2019. Adjusted 2020 earnings per share were $0.61, down from $1.96 the year prior. Annual revenue was $933.9 million, up year-over-year from $685.5 million.
At the newly rechristened Waste Solutions segment, which includes the company’s radioactive waste-disposal operations, quarterly revenue slipped to $105.7 million from $113.1 million a year ago, “impacted by a Base Business decline of 8% reflecting slower manufacturing activity earlier in the year, a 3% decline in Event Business and a 13% decline in transportation revenue compared to the same period in 2019,” the company wrote.
For the year, Waste Solutions segment revenue was about $425 million, down from some $440.5 million in 2019.
In its latest earnings press release, U.S. Ecology called 2020 a “low-point” for the Energy Waste business that includes NRC Group, and that the segment should see improvement in 2021 — if only to an extent.
“The positive recovery in oil prices and increasing rig activity over the past quarter and into 2021 are a welcome sign of improvement,” the company wrote in its quarterly report. “Despite this improvement, we remain cautious on the short to medium term strength of the recovery while remaining confident in the unique attributes and long-term viability of the assets and markets we serve.”
US Ecology operates nuclear waste disposal sites in Idaho, Michigan, and Washington state. The Richland, Wash. site accepts low-level radioactive waste from power plants participating in the Rocky Mountain and Northwest interstate compacts.
