Compiled by the Waste Age staff

 Rutland, Vt.-based Casella Waste Systems posted a net income of $48.4 million on $109.5 million in revenue during the fourth quarter of its 2011 fiscal year. During the same period in its 2010 fiscal year, the firm posted a net loss of $5.2 million on $112.7 million in revenue.

For its entire 2011 fiscal year, Casella reported a net income of $38.4 million on $466.1 million in revenue. One year earlier, the firm reported a net loss of $13.9 million on $457.6 million in revenue.

Speaking about his firm’s fourth-quarter performance, CEO John Casella attributed the rise in net income in part to the firm’s $130 million sale of some of its recycling assets and the decline in revenue to inclement weather. “Over the past year, we have made significant progress on important strategic initiatives, including the sale of our non-integrated recycling assets for an accretive multiple and the refinancing of our then-existing senior subordinated notes and senior secured credit facilities,” said Casella in a press release. “While our team executed extremely well on these long-term initiatives, we experienced significant operational challenges over the last six months of our fiscal year, with both internal and external factors contributing to our underperformance.”

“The extreme weather impacted operational performance, with lower than projected productivity throughout the solid waste business, higher operating costs, most notably leachate at the landfills, and a delayed seasonal uptick for solid waste volumes,” Casella added in his statement.

RELATED RESOURCE:

• "Casella Waste Systems Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2011 Results, Provides Fiscal Year 2012 Guidance" (press release)