Ashland reported income from continuing operations of $117 million, or $1.47 per diluted share, on sales of $2.1 billion. These results included several key items that together reduced income from continuing operations by approximately $15 million, net of tax, or $0.19 per diluted share. The largest key item was a $10 million after-tax charge from adjustments made to environmental reserves primarily related to legacy non-operating sites. Excluding all key items, Ashland's adjusted earnings per share declined 19 percent, to $1.66, when compared to the year-ago quarter. These adjusted results include a non-cash write-down of $17 million, or $0.16 per diluted share, on elastomers inventory within Ashland Performance Materials.
For the year-ago quarter, Ashland reported income from continuing operations of $160 million, or $2.00 per diluted share, on sales of $2.1 billion. The year-ago results included three key items that had a combined negative effect of $3 million, net of tax, or $0.04 per diluted share. Excluding these three items, adjusted income from continuing operations was $163 million, or $2.04 per diluted share. (Please refer to Table 5 of the accompanying financial statements for details of key items in both periods.)
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