Livent Corporation (NYSE:LTHM) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Gilberto Antoniazzi: Hey Corinne, Gilberto here. So the cost increases that we’re anticipating for the second half, again, as we are navigating through the year, and we are using more and more of newer raw materials. We have seen a lot of price increases in key raw materials was like soda ash and they’re materializing more and more. So for example, raw material like soda ash is going to be back equally Q3 and Q4, energy in Argentina, some labor costs in Argentina as well. When you think about ramp-up in costs as we’re commissioning the plant, there might be more in Q3 and actually in Q4 as we ramp up the production, particularly in MDA in Argentina, where we’re going to have a lot more costs. So I will tell you that I think in Q3 we have a little bit more cost impact compared to Q4, but they’re going to be certainly higher than we had in the first half of the year.

Corinne Blanchard: Okay. That’s helpful. And just keeping up with numbers, but you had a significant adjustment, right? Like I think $19 million also related to the transaction. How do we think about it for 3Q and 4Q? Was it just like a onetime off? Or would you have the bit coming through?

Gilberto Antoniazzi: Actually, can you repeat the question? I’m sure I understood the question.

Corinne Blanchard: Yes, the $19 million or $18.8 million transaction adjustment that you had for the EBITDA calculation. Is it just a onetime off for 3Q? Or should we expect more coming in 3Q or 4Q?

Gilberto Antoniazzi: There’ll be more cost for the transaction come in Q3 and Q4 for sure. But those are excluded from our adjusted EBITDA, as you probably know. But there will be more costs related to transaction for sure, particularly we initially our integration effort with Allkem.

Corinne Blanchard: Fair enough. Thank you.

Operator: There were no further questions. I’ll turn the call over to Daniel Rosen for closing remarks.

Daniel Rosen: Great. Thanks, Josh. That’s all the time we have for the call today, but we will be available following to address any additional questions you may have. Thanks, everyone, and have a good evening.

Operator: This concludes the Livent Corporation Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Release Conference Call. Thank you.