ARKEMA
European slowdown hits sales and profits / US automotive sector provides boost to Altuglas / Earnings fall in high-performance materials
French chemicals producer Arkema (Colombes; www.arkema.com) has reported a 7% year-on-year fall in operating profit in the first quarter of 2013 to EUR 234m, its third-highest first-quarter performance despite an economic environment that was less favourable than a year ago, particularly in Europe. Sales fell by 4% to EUR 1.56 bn in the period. Volumes fell by over 1% while prices and margins remained resilient, the company said.
The fall in sales was, due in part, to the company’s divestment of its tin stabiliser activities to performance chemicals and plastics producer PMC Group (Mount Laurel, New Jersey / USA; www.pmc-group.com) in October 2012 – see Plasteurope.com of 08.10.2012.
The company also took a EUR 125m exceptional charge in the quarter reflecting its financial exposure to its former PVC business Kem One (Lyon / France; www.kemone.com), which it sold to Klesch Group (Geneva; www.klesch.com) in July 2012 – see Plasteurope.com of 12.04.2013.
Operating profit in Arkema’s industrial specialities segment, which includes the company’s Altuglas PMMA subsidiary, increased by 7% year-on-year to EUR 104m on sales up marginally at EUR 565m. In PMMA, good demand in the US automotive sector helped to partially offset more challenging market conditions in Europe while all of the segment’s activities continued to benefit; in particular from the ongoing favourable environment in the US, the company said.
The high-performance materials segment, which includes speciality polyamides and fluoropolymers, began the year slowly with poor market conditions continuing from the end of 2012. The segment reported a 31% year-on-year fall in operating profit to EUR 70m on sales down 16% at EUR 448m. However, operating profit was up significantly on the final quarter of 2012.
Looking forward, the company said that markets varied across regions – conditions are solid in North America, whereas the economic situation in Europe remains challenging. Growth in China is slower than expected with some signs of a recovery. Arkema said that it is confident of its ability to achieve a strong performance in 2013 while remaining cautious about macro-economic development.
The fall in sales was, due in part, to the company’s divestment of its tin stabiliser activities to performance chemicals and plastics producer PMC Group (Mount Laurel, New Jersey / USA; www.pmc-group.com) in October 2012 – see Plasteurope.com of 08.10.2012.
The company also took a EUR 125m exceptional charge in the quarter reflecting its financial exposure to its former PVC business Kem One (Lyon / France; www.kemone.com), which it sold to Klesch Group (Geneva; www.klesch.com) in July 2012 – see Plasteurope.com of 12.04.2013.
Operating profit in Arkema’s industrial specialities segment, which includes the company’s Altuglas PMMA subsidiary, increased by 7% year-on-year to EUR 104m on sales up marginally at EUR 565m. In PMMA, good demand in the US automotive sector helped to partially offset more challenging market conditions in Europe while all of the segment’s activities continued to benefit; in particular from the ongoing favourable environment in the US, the company said.
The high-performance materials segment, which includes speciality polyamides and fluoropolymers, began the year slowly with poor market conditions continuing from the end of 2012. The segment reported a 31% year-on-year fall in operating profit to EUR 70m on sales down 16% at EUR 448m. However, operating profit was up significantly on the final quarter of 2012.
Looking forward, the company said that markets varied across regions – conditions are solid in North America, whereas the economic situation in Europe remains challenging. Growth in China is slower than expected with some signs of a recovery. Arkema said that it is confident of its ability to achieve a strong performance in 2013 while remaining cautious about macro-economic development.
22.05.2013 Plasteurope.com [225334-0]
Published on 22.05.2013
German version of this article...