Stepan Company (NYSE:SCL) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Scott Behrens: It’s hard to say Vincent. I would say that, raw materials kind of plateaued in Q4. So it’s pretty stable right now. And whether it’s going up or down from here, it’s hard to predict. There’s too many factors that play into that. Our focus is really — we will continue our pricing actions to cover our continuing any cost inflation that we have within the business and operations. So, I think it’s wait and see. But, we expect that we’ll continue with our pricing strategy as needed.

Vincent Anderson: Okay. Fair enough. And then I had a quick one on taxes of all things. The 2023 effective tax rate guidance is maybe a little bit higher than the last couple of years. But more importantly, maybe with all those capital spending, do either the Low 1,4 Dioxane projects or the Pasadena project qualify for bonus depreciation, and if so, how should we think about that impacting cash taxes over the next couple of years?

Scott Behrens: Yes. Great question, Vincent. The guidance is kind of similar. Remember, for example, UK is moving to a 25% tax rate in April. So that’s a key impact. And then you have country mix as well baking into that. So our normal tax rate if you go back to 2021 or 2020 — 2021, we had a lot of tax projects. But in 2020, you see our tax rate always in the 25%, 26%. So that’s the guidance that we have right now. And you’re totally right. On a cash on basis, as soon as we commissioning all the Low 1,4 Dioxane assets, we will apply — those apply for bonus depreciation. Now remember, the bonus depreciation moved from 100%, last year to 80% this year per the new law is going down. And next year, we’re going to be able to have Pasadena, but the bonus depreciation goes down to 60%. So unfortunately we see that — I mean, it’s not 100% like in the past, but of course, we are planning for that in our cash flow.

Vincent Anderson: Okay, excellent. Thank you very much.

Operator: Thank you for your question. One moment while we prepare for the next question. And our next question will be coming from David Storms of Stonegate. Your line is open.

David Storms: Perfect. Good morning, and thanks for taking my call. Just curious about some of the pacing with expenses for your 1,4 Dioxane and the Pasadena project.

Scott Behrens: David, could you repeat that question? We broke up on us.

David Storms: No, sorry about that. Just curious about the pacing for the expenses. You’ve mentioned some of the expenses for 1,4 Dioxane projects and the Pasadena project. Just curious how we should think about the pacing of that through 2023 and beyond?

Scott Behrens: Yes. What I would say is — probably it’s more half-on-half. The first half is heavily load. It’s more loaded into Low 1,4 Dioxane, the back half is going to be more loaded with Pasadena.

David Storms: Perfect. Thank you. The other thing, I know you guys won’t give explicit guidance. But after companies like Exxon and Procter & Gamble released their earnings results, a lot of analysts raise their estimates for revenue and EBITDA. Do you think that’s kind of directionally correct for the market going forward?

Scott Behrens : I can’t comment on that, David? I don’t know what’s driving Exxon and their expectations.

David Storms: Perfect. Thank you very much.

Operator: Thank you for your question. One moment while we prepare for the next question. Our next question will be coming from David Silver of C.L. King. Your line is open.

David Silver : Yes. Hi. Thank you and good morning.

Scott Behrens: Good morning, David