Matson (MATX) announces preliminary fourth quarter financial results

Matson, Inc. ("Matson" or the "Company") (NYSE: MATX) today announces preliminary fourth quarter financial results, provides a business update and announces that its fourth quarter earnings call will be held on February 17, 2022.

"Matson finished off a strong year with continued improvement in economic and business trends in our markets driving solid performance in both Ocean Transportation and Logistics," said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Matt Cox. "Within Ocean Transportation, our China service continued to see significant demand for its expedited ocean services as volume for e-commerce, garments and other goods remained elevated. Continued strong demand for the China service was the primary driver of the increase in consolidated operating income year-over-year. Supply chain congestion remains the current issue in the Transpacific tradelane due to ongoing elevated consumption trends, U.S. domestic supply chain constraints, and inventory restocking. For 2022, we expect these conditions to remain largely in place through at least the October peak season and expect elevated demand for our China service for most of the year."

Mr. Cox added, "In our domestic ocean tradelanes, we continued to see strong demand with higher year-over-year volumes, including the benefit of an extra week, compared to the largely pandemic-reduced volumes in the year ago period. In Hawaii, we experienced elevated westbound freight demand as the state's tourism and economy continued to rebound from the pandemic lows and the slowdown in tourism at the beginning of the quarter as a result of the state's efforts to address the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant. In Logistics, operating income increased year-over-year compared to the operating income achieved in the year ago period as we continued to see elevated goods consumption, inventory restocking and favorable supply and demand fundamentals in our core markets. As a result, Matson expects fourth quarter operating income for Ocean Transportation of $445.0 to $455.0 million and Logistics operating income of $14.0 to $15.0 million. We also expect fourth quarter 2021 net income and diluted EPS to be $365.2 to $382.4 million and $8.70 to $9.10, respectively."

Fourth Quarter Tradelane Volume (Forty-foot equivalent units (FEU)) (1)(2):

For the three months ended December 31, 2021 compared to the three months ended December 31, 2020 and on a FEU basis:

• Hawaii container volume increased 10.4 percent primarily due to (i) higher retail and hospitality-related demand due to the continued rebound in tourism and the Hawaii economy and (ii) the benefit of an extra week, compared to the volume in the year ago period, which was negatively impacted by the state's COVID-19 mitigation efforts, including restrictions on tourism;
• Alaska volume increased 10.2 percent primarily due to the increase in volume from the Alaska-Asia Express, the benefit of an extra week, and higher southbound volume;
• China volume was 32.7 percent higher primarily due to CCX volume and the benefit of an extra week. The total number of eastbound voyages in the China service, including the impact of an extra week, increased by 9 year-over-year;
• Guam volume was 14.0 percent higher primarily due to higher retail-related demand compared to the volume in the year ago period; and
• Other containers volume increased 14.3 percent primarily due to the addition of China-Auckland Express volume in the South Pacific.

Liquidity, Debt and Share Repurchases

Matson's cash and cash equivalents and total debt (presented before any reduction for deferred loan fees as required by GAAP) as of December 31, 2021 were approximately $280.0 million and $629.0 million, respectively.

During the fourth quarter of 2021, Matson repurchased approximately 1.0 million shares for a total cost of $84.5 million. Since the commencement of the share repurchase program on August 3, 2021 to December 31, 2021, Matson repurchased approximately 2.5 million shares for a total cost of $200.1 million. As of December 31, 2021, the Company had approximately 0.5 million shares remaining in its share repurchase program.

A slide presentation that accompanies this press release is available on the Company's website at www.matson.com, under Investors.

Teleconference and Webcast

A conference call is scheduled on February 17, 2022 at 4:30 p.m. ET when Matt Cox, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Joel Wine, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, will discuss Matson's fourth quarter results.

The conference call will be broadcast live along with an additional slide presentation on the Company's website at www.matson.com, under Investors. A replay of the conference call will be available approximately two hours after the call through February 24, 2022 by dialing 1-855-859-2056 or 1-404-537-3406 and using the conference number 3023619. The slides and audio webcast of the conference call will be archived for one full quarter on the Company's website at www.matson.com, under Investors.

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