PolyOne Declares Quarterly Dividend Increase of 30%, Announces Three-Year Dividend Increase Plan

CLEVELAND, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Directors of PolyOne Corporation (NYSE: POL) has declared a quarterly cash dividend of seventeen and a half cents ($0.175) per share on the common stock outstanding, representing a 30% increase to the quarterly cash dividend. The $0.175 per share will be paid on January 10, 2018 to stockholders of record on December 15, 2017.  On an annualized basis, the dividend will increase from $0.54 to $0.70 per share on the common stock outstanding.

"In the last six months we have taken important steps to strengthen our portfolio as we divested DSS and reinvested the proceeds to fund the acquisitions of Rutland and Mesa," said Robert M. Patterson, chairman, president and chief executive officer, PolyOne Corporation.  "With the sale of DSS, we can now entirely focus on accelerating growth in our four core segments. Our cash flow generation, financial profile and earnings potential have never been stronger, and we are very well positioned to deliver double digit EPS growth in 2018 and beyond."

"We initiated our dividend in 2011, and we have increased it annually ever since," Mr. Patterson added.  "With the structural improvements in our portfolio and increased confidence in our future earnings growth, we are pleased to announce this latest increase, which is our largest ever.  It is the first in a plan that we anticipate will increase our dividend 60% or more cumulatively over the next three years."

"We view the increased payouts as a balanced element of delivering value to our shareholders, as our payout ratio remains modest at approximately 30%.  As we look ahead, the preponderance of our cash flow will continue to go toward funding organic growth initiatives and acquisitions that accelerate our specialty growth.  We will also be opportunistic with respect to buying back shares," Mr. Patterson further stated.  "We are very excited about our growth opportunities and remain fully committed to investing in our businesses through innovation, commercial and technical resources and M&A, as we execute our four-pillar strategy to serve our customers."

About PolyOne

PolyOne Corporation is a premier provider of specialized polymer materials, services and solutions. The company is dedicated to serving customers in diverse industries around the globe, by creating value through collaboration, innovation and an unwavering commitment to excellence.  Guided by its Core Values, Sustainability Promise and No Surprises Pledge(SM), PolyOne is committed to its customers, employees, communities and shareholders through ethical, sustainable and fiscally responsible principles. For more information, visit www.polyone.com.

Forward-looking Statements

In this press release, statements that are not reported financial results or other historical information are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements give current expectations or forecasts of future events and are not guarantees of future performance. They are based on management's expectations that involve a number of business risks and uncertainties, any of which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements. They use words such as "will," "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "project," "intend," "plan," "believe," and other words and terms of similar meaning in connection with any discussion of future operating or financial condition, performance and/or sales.  Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those implied by these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: our ability to realize anticipated savings and operational benefits from the realignment of assets, including the closure of manufacturing facilities; the timing of closings and shifts of production to new facilities related to asset realignments and any unforeseen loss of customers and/or disruptions of service or quality caused by such closings and/or production shifts; separation and severance amounts that differ from original estimates; amounts for non-cash charges related to asset write-offs and accelerated depreciation realignments of property, plant and equipment that differ from original estimates; our ability to identify and evaluate acquisition targets and consummate acquisitions; the ability to successfully integrate acquired businesses into our operations, such as Rutland, Mesa, Comptek, SilCoTec, Gordon Composites and Polystrand, including whether such businesses will be accretive, retain the management teams of acquired businesses, and retain relationships with customers of acquired businesses; disruptions, uncertainty or volatility in the credit markets that could adversely impact the availability of credit already arranged and the availability and cost of credit in the future; the financial condition of our customers, including the ability of customers (especially those that may be highly leveraged and those with inadequate liquidity) to maintain their credit availability; the speed and extent of an economic recovery, including the recovery of the housing market; our ability to achieve new business gains; the effect on foreign operations of currency fluctuations, tariffs and other political, economic and regulatory risks; changes in polymer consumption growth rates and laws and regulations regarding the disposal of plastic in jurisdictions where we conduct business; changes in global industry capacity or in the rate at which anticipated changes in industry capacity come online; fluctuations in raw material prices, quality and supply and in energy prices and supply; production outages or material costs associated with scheduled or unscheduled maintenance programs; unanticipated developments that could occur with respect to contingencies such as litigation and environmental matters; an inability to achieve or delays in achieving or achievement of less than the anticipated financial benefit from initiatives related to working capital reductions, cost reductions and employee productivity goals; an inability to raise or sustain prices for products or services; an inability to maintain appropriate relations with unions and employees; our ability to continue to pay cash dividends including at the increasing rate, which will be subject to, among other factors, market conditions, our cash flow and cash requirements and restrictions contained in any of our debt agreements; the amount and timing of repurchases of our common shares, if any; and other factors affecting our business beyond our control, including, without limitation, changes in the general economy, changes in interest rates and changes in the rate of inflation. The above list of factors is not exhaustive.

We undertake no obligation to publicly update forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. You are advised to consult any further disclosures we make on related subjects in our reports on Form 10-Q, 8-K and 10-K that we provide to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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SOURCE PolyOne Corporation

Investor Relations: Eric R. Swanson, Director, Investor Relations, PolyOne Corporation, +1 440-930-1018, eric.swanson@avient.com, Media: Kyle G. Rose, Vice President, Corporate Communications, PolyOne Corporation, +1 440-930-3162, kyle.rose@avient.com