A. Schulman Inc. (SHLM) filed Quarterly Report for the period ended 2011-11-30.

A. Schulman Inc. has a market cap of $643.4 million; its shares were traded at around $21.89 with a P/E ratio of 11.7 and P/S ratio of 0.3. The dividend yield of A. Schulman Inc. stocks is 3.1%.

Highlight of Business Operations:

EMEA net sales for the three months ended November 30, 2011 were approximately $352.9 million, an increase of approximately $6.2 million, or 1.8%, compared with the prior-year period. The increase in net sales was primarily related to an increase of approximately 12.6% in price per pound and the favorable impact of foreign currency translation of approximately $7.2 million. The masterbatch and specialty powders product families experienced a decline in volume due to a reduction in demand which partially offset the increase in net sales.

Net sales for the Americas for the three months ended November 30, 2011 were approximately $128.0 million, an increase of approximately $12.9 million or 11.2% compared with the prior-year period. The increase in net sales was a result of approximately $8.2 million of incremental fiscal 2012 net sales from fiscal 2011 acquisitions and the approximate 20.5% increase in price per pound, which was spread across all product families. The decrease in volume of approximately 11.7 million pounds was primarily related to the masterbatch product family. Foreign currency translation negatively impacted net sales by approximately $1.7 million.

Gross profit for the Americas was approximately $19.9 million for the three months ended November 30, 2011, an increase of approximately $3.4 million from the comparable period last year. The increases in gross profit and gross profit per pound of approximately 20.7% and 30.6%, respectively, were primarily due to higher net sales in the masterbatch and engineered plastics product families. The Company was able to improve margins in light of rising raw material costs by implementing operational efficiencies. The fiscal 2011 acquisitions contributed approximately $1.3 million of incremental fiscal 2012 gross profit. Foreign currency translation negatively impacted gross profit by approximately $0.4 million.

Net sales for APAC for the three months ended November 30, 2011 were approximately $36.4 million, an increase of approximately $2.8 million compared with the same prior-year period. Net sales increased as a result of an increase of approximately 24.6% in selling price per pound offset by a decrease in volume of approximately 13.0%. Foreign currency translation favorably impacted net sales by approximately $1.1 million. The increase in net sales is primarily related to the masterbatch and engineered plastics product families offset by decreased net sales in the specialty powders product family. The reduction in volume is partially a result of a decline in APAC export net sales to Europe.

Working capital, excluding cash, was approximately $297.5 million as of November 30, 2011, an increase of approximately $23.6 million from August 31, 2011. The primary reason for the increase in working capital from August 31, 2011 was the decrease of approximately $45.9 million in accounts payable and an increase in inventory of approximately $7.7 million offset by a decrease of approximately $38.2 million in accounts receivable. The translation effect of foreign currencies, primarily the Euro, decreased accounts receivable by approximately $21.8 million and inventory by approximately $17.6 million. Excluding the impact of translation of foreign currencies, accounts receivable decreased approximately $16.4 million, or 4.7%, and inventory increased approximately $25.3 million, or 9.6%. The decrease in accounts receivable is primarily related to higher net sales in the two months prior to August 31, 2011 compared to the two months prior to November 30, 2011. The increase in inventory is a combination of increased raw material costs and increased tonnage in inventory. Accounts payable decreased approximately $32.8 million, excluding the impact of foreign currency, primarily as a result of the timing of payments in the first quarter of fiscal 2012 as compared to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011.

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