Following a difficult year in 2003, polyurethane foam specialist Recticel NV (B-1200 Brussels; www.recticel.com) returned to profit in 2004. The group said it saw considerable improvement in the first half but during the second half had to contend with rising raw material prices and delays in contracts from US car manufacturers (see PIE 05, 2005). On the whole, sales picked up by 8.1% to EUR 1.28m, with all business groups contributing. EBIT climbed from EUR 13.6m to EUR 32.6m. Net profit was EUR 5.4m compared with a loss of EUR 10.1m in 2003.

With annual sales of EUR 470m (EUR 459m in 2003) and EBITDA of EUR 33m (EUR 35m), Flexible Foams is Recticel´s biggest business group. The company said this sector suffered in particular last year from a continuing rise in raw material prices and that it was only able to pass on its additional costs with considerable delay. Composite Foams, part of this business group, has been showing healthy growth, and Recticel said it intends to search for new applications in this field.

Following the completion of restructuring measures in The Netherlands and Germany, and thanks to a slight economic recovery in western Europe, sales of the Bedding Division rose by 1.4% to EUR 368m, and EBITDA gained 23.5% to EUR 20.8m. In Recticel´s smallest segment, Insulation, both sales (EUR 96m) and earnings (EUR 12m) remained stable. The highest level of growth was achieved by the Automotive segment, with sales up 26% to EUR 400m and EBITDA up more than 50% to EUR 27.1m.

• e-Service:Detailed Recticel presentation on full year 2004 as PDF document (60 KB)