Clean Harbors shares fall, 2Q misses Wall St. view

NORWELL, Mass. (AP) ? Shares of Clean Harbors, an environmental cleanup company, fell more than 7 percent Wednesday after the company missed analysts' expectations for second-quarter revenue and earnings.

THE SPARK: Revenue grew 17 percent to $523 million, below the $549 million predicted by analysts polled by FactSet. And it wasn't enough to keep profits from slipping: Net income fell 20 percent to $23.4 million. That amounted to 44 cents per share, missing the 55 cents predicted by analysts. A year ago, the company earned $29.2 million, or 55 cents per share.

Clean Harbors said its earnings were hurt by higher depreciation related to purchases it made last year. Last year, Clean Harbors bought a company called Peak Energy Services, which provides drilling and other production services in oil and natural gas sites in the U.S. and Canada.

THE BIG PICTURE: Clean Harbors, based in Norwell, Mass., provides environmental cleanup services, and helps companies dispose of waste products like chemicals that are used in laboratories. The company owns landfills, incinerators, and wastewater treatment facilities.

The unit that caters to the energy industry was hurt by a seasonal slowdown, as well as lower U.S. prices for natural gas. In a statement, CEO Alan McKim said he expected the slowdown in the U.S. energy business would be temporary and he still thinks the company will meet its earlier estimates for 2012 earnings.

Other units did well, helped by high demand. Field services, which provides cleanup at different sites, grew even though there were no major emergencies the company had to respond to. Iinstead, it brought in more scheduled, large-scale projects and steady maintenance work.

SHARE ACTION: Clean Harbors fell $4.34, or 7.3 percent, to $55 in afternoon trading.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/clean-harbors-shares-fall-2q-misses-wall-st-170549671--finance.html

miracle andy whitfield kennedy demi moore roy oswalt kevin martin 2012 senior bowl