Axiall Corporation today announced financial results for the year and quarter ended December 31, 2012.

The company reported net sales of $3.3 billion for the full year 2012, 3 percent higher than the net sales of $3.2 billion reported for the full year 2011. Axiall reported net income of $120.6 million, or $3.45 per diluted share for 2012, compared to net income of $57.8 million, or$1.66 per diluted share, for the previous year. Net income for 2012 includes $38.8 million of transaction related, restructuring and other costs, a $2.7 million loss on redemption and other debt costs, partially offset by a $19.3 million gain on sale of assets and $0.8 million of net asset impairment recovery. Net income for 2011 includes $11.6 million of asset impairment charges, and transaction related, restructuring and other costs, a $4.9 million loss on redemption and other debt costs, partially offset by a $1.2 million gain on sale of assets and a benefit to income tax expense from the reversal of $22.1 million of tax reserves.

“Our results exceeded our expectations for 2012, in large part due to the most profitable fourth quarter we have had in decades,” saidPaul Carrico, president and chief executive officer.

“This strong performance was achieved in a year when many people in our organization were investing considerable time and energy to make the merger of Georgia Gulf and PPG’s commodity chemicals business a reality,” Carrico said. “I want to thank our employees for their contributions in completing the merger while remaining focused on safety and execution. The merger enhances Axiall’s scale and integration across the chlorovinyls chain and expands the benefit we gain from low-cost natural gas in North America and growing global demand for our products.”

The company reported net sales of $784.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2012, compared to net sales of $673.6 million reported for the fourth quarter of 2011. Axiall reported net income of $32.3 million, or $0.92 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2012, compared to a net loss of $3.3 million, or $0.10 per diluted share, for the same quarter of the previous year. Net income for the fourth quarter of 2012 includes $11.6 million of transaction related, restructuring and other costs and a $2.7 million loss on the early redemption of debt. The net loss in the fourth quarter of 2011 includes an $8.3 million asset impairment charge, a $2.2 million restructuring expense, a $3.8 millionloss on the early redemption of debt and a benefit to income tax expense from the reversal of $11.7 million of tax reserves.

Chlorovinyls

In the Chlorovinyls segment, fourth quarter 2012 net sales were $346.4 million compared to $321.5 million during the fourth quarter of 2011. The increase in net sales was driven by higher vinyl resin sales volumes and higher caustic sales prices, partially offset by lower vinyl resin sales prices and lower caustic sales volumes. The segment posted operating income of $77.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2012, compared to operating income of $21.5 million for the same quarter in the prior year. The $55.5 million increase in operating income was primarily due to lower feedstock costs, higher vinyl resin sales volumes and higher caustic sales prices.

Building Products

In the Building Products segment, net sales were $190.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2012, compared to $189.7 million recorded for the same quarter in the prior year. Net sales for the fourth quarter of 2011 include $2.6 million of sales from the fence product line that was discontinued in March 2012. The net sales increase was driven by increased Canadian sales volume, partially offset by lower sales volume in the U.S. due to the discontinued fence product line. On a constant currency basis and excluding the sales from the discontinued fence product line, net sales for the quarter were flat compared to the fourth quarter of 2011. The segment's operating loss was $5.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2012, compared to an $11.6 million operating loss during the same quarter of the prior year. The fourth quarter 2012 operating loss includes $1.0 million of restructuring costs while the fourth quarter 2011 operating loss includes $2.4 millionof restructuring costs and $8.3 million of asset impairment charges. After excluding these items, the increase in operating loss was due to higher selling, general, and administrative costs partially offset by improved gross margin.

Aromatics

In the Aromatics segment, net sales increased to $247.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2012 from $162.4 million during the fourth quarter of 2011, due primarily to higher sales prices and higher sales volumes for all products. During the fourth quarter of 2012, the segment recorded operating income of $18.3 million, compared to an operating loss of $3.7 million during the same quarter in 2011. The increase in operating income was primarily due to an inventory holding gain in the fourth quarter of 2012 compared to a large inventory holding loss in the fourth quarter of 2011 as well as higher volumes and sales prices in the fourth quarter of 2012.