ELGIN, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 20, 2021--

Heritage-Crystal Clean, Inc. (Nasdaq: HCCI), a leading provider of parts cleaning, used oil re-refining, and hazardous and non-hazardous waste services primarily focused on small and mid-sized customers, today announced results for the third quarter which ended September 11, 2021.

Revenue for the third quarter of 2021 was $123.2 million compared to $87.1 million for the same quarter of 2020, an increase of 41.4%.

Overall Operating Margin jumped to 31.7%, driven primarily by the Oil Business segment, compared to 2020 third quarter operating margin which was 17.8%. Our third quarter corporate SG&A expense was $13.3 million, or 10.8% of revenue, compared to $9.4 million, or 10.8% of revenue, for the third quarter of 2020.

Net income for the third quarter was $18.5 million compared to net income of $4.0 million in the year-ago quarter. Basic earnings per share was $0.79 compared $0.17 in the year-ago quarter.

President and CEO Brian Recatto commented, "We are very excited with our overall results for the third quarter. We are also pleased that both segments again made positive contributions to help achieve record-setting results for the fourth straight quarter."

Our Environmental Services segment includes parts cleaning, containerized waste, wastewater vacuum, antifreeze recycling, and field services. Environmental Services revenue was $72.3 million during the quarter compared to $62.4 million during the third quarter of fiscal 2020. The 15.9% increase in revenue was mainly due to our continuing recovery from the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. We experienced volume increases across all service lines in the segment when compared to the third quarter of 2020. Environmental Services profit before corporate selling, general, and administrative expenses was $17.3 million, or 23.9% of revenue, compared to $14.6 million, or 23.4% of revenue, in the year-ago quarter. The slight increase in operating margin was mainly driven by higher labor cost efficiency and lower solvent expense.

Recatto commented, "We are pleased that we were not only able to grow our segment revenue compared to 2020, but during the quarter we also exceeded segment revenue compared to the third quarter of 2019 by 4.9%. Cost inflation limited our operating profit during the quarter, but we expect that implementation of our price increase early in the fourth quarter will help mitigate the impact of continuing cost pressure during the fourth quarter of 2021."

Our Oil Business segment includes used oil collection and re-refining activities, as well as sales of recycled fuel oil. During the third quarter of fiscal 2021, Oil Business revenue was a record $50.8 million, an increase of $26.1 million, or 105.9%, compared to $24.7 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2020. An increase in base oil prices was the main driver of the increase in revenue along with an increase in base oil sales volume compared to the prior year quarter. Oil Business segment operating margin increased sharply to a record 42.8% in the third quarter of 2021 compared to 3.4% in the third quarter of fiscal 2020. The higher operating margin compared to the third quarter of 2020 was mainly due to an increase in the spread between the netback (sales price net of freight impact) on our base oil sales and the price paid/charged to our customers for the removal of their used oil.

Recatto commented, "During the third quarter we continued to benefit from favorable base oil pricing conditions and we executed well in regards to used oil collection route efficiency. In addition, we produced record base oil volume at our re-refinery during the third quarter which contributed to the record operating profit in our Oil Business segment."

As part of our Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) initiative, we are excited to share the release of our first company Sustainability Report. Our report tells the story of our commitment to sustainable waste recovery operations to recycle, reduce, and reuse.

Our report focuses on “5 Ps”, which are Planet, People, Partnerships, Prosperity, and Peace. The 5 Ps were created from the United Nations list of 17 Sustainable Development Goals intended to bring together and grow a safer, stable, healthier, and more prosperous world. Using the 5 Ps will help us measure our progress and work to help balance and support our goals.

Our sustainability report shares our commitment to these practices while helping to create a safe, sustainable environment for our customers and the communities we work in. We strive for continuous improvement as we evolve our environmental footprint and help the business world run cleaner.

You can find our sustainability report on the Crystal Clean website at

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All references to the “Company,” “we,” “our,” and “us” refer to Heritage-Crystal Clean, Inc., and its subsidiaries. This release contains forward-looking statements that are based upon current management expectations. Generally, the words "aim," "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "project," "should," "will be," "will continue," "will likely result," "would" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that could cause our actual results, performance or achievements or industry results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and other important factors include, among others: developments in the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting impact on our business and operations, general economic conditions and downturns in the business cycles of automotive repair shops, industrial manufacturing businesses and small businesses in general; increased solvent, fuel and energy costs and volatility, including a drop in the price of crude oil, the selling price of lubricating base oil, solvent, fuel, energy, and commodity costs; our ability to enforce our rights under the FCC Environmental purchase agreement; our ability to pay our debt when due and comply with our debt covenants; our ability to successfully operate our used oil re-refinery and to cost-effectively collect or purchase used oil or generate operating results; increased market supply or decreased demand for base oil; further consolidation and/or declines in the United States automotive repair and manufacturing industries; the impact of extensive environmental, health and safety and employment laws and regulations on our business; legislative or regulatory requirements or changes adversely affecting our business; competition in the industrial and hazardous waste services industries and from other used oil re-refineries; claims and involuntary shutdowns relating to our handling of hazardous substances; the value of our used solvents and oil inventory, which may fluctuate significantly; our ability to expand our non-hazardous programs for parts cleaning; our dependency on key employees; our level of indebtedness, which could affect our ability to fulfill our obligations, impede the implementation of our strategy, and expose us to interest rate risk; the impact of legal proceedings and class action litigation on us and our ability to estimate the cash payments we will make under litigation settlements; our ability to effectively manage our network of branch locations; the control of The Heritage Group over the Company; and the risks identified in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 2, 2021. Given these uncertainties, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. We assume no obligation to update or revise them or provide reasons why actual results may differ. The information in this release should be read in light of such risks and in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto included elsewhere in this release.

Heritage-Crystal Clean, Inc. provides parts cleaning, used oil re-refining, and hazardous and non-hazardous waste services primarily to small and mid-sized manufacturers and other industrial businesses as well as customers in the vehicle maintenance sector. Our service programs include parts cleaning, containerized waste management, used oil collection and re-refining, wastewater vacuum, waste antifreeze collection, recycling and product sales, and field services. These services help our customers manage their used chemicals and liquid and solid wastes, while also helping to minimize their regulatory burdens. Our customers include small-to-medium sized manufacturers, such as metal product fabricators and printers, and other industrial businesses as well as businesses involved in vehicle maintenance operations, such as car dealerships, automotive repair shops, and trucking firms. Through our used oil re-refining program during fiscal 2020, we recycled approximately 61 million gallons of used oil into high quality lubricating base oil, and we are a supplier to firms that produce and market finished lubricants. Through our antifreeze program during fiscal 2020 we recycled approximately 3.7 million gallons of spent antifreeze which was used to produce a full line of virgin-quality antifreeze products. Through our parts cleaning program during fiscal 2020 we recycled 4 million gallons of used solvent into virgin-quality solvent to be used again by our customers. Through our containerized waste program during fiscal 2020 we collected 20 thousand tons of regulated waste which was sent for energy recovery. Through our wastewater vacuum services program during fiscal 2020 we treated approximately 52 million gallons of wastewater. Heritage-Crystal Clean, Inc. is headquartered in Elgin, Illinois, and operates through 90 branches serving approximately 92,000 customer locations.

The Company will host a conference call on Thursday October 21, 2021 at 9:30 AM Central Time, during which management will give a brief presentation focusing on the Company's operations and financial results. Interested parties can listen to the audio webcast available through our company website, , and can participate on the call by dialing (833) 772-0398. After dialing the number, you will be required to provide the following passcode before being joined to the conference call: 9825638.

The Company uses its website to make information available to investors and the public at .

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Mark DeVita, Chief Financial Officer, at (847) 836-5670 

KEYWORD: ILLINOIS UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA

INDUSTRY KEYWORD: OIL/GAS ENERGY ENVIRONMENT GENERAL AUTOMOTIVE AUTOMOTIVE

SOURCE: Heritage-Crystal Clean, Inc.

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PUB: 10/20/2021 04:14 PM/DISC: 10/20/2021 04:14 PM

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