Titanium dioxide producer Venator (Stockton-on-Tees / UK; www.venatorcorp.com) has reported a net income of USD 134m (EUR 119m) in 2017, its first fiscal year after having been spun off from speciality chemicals group Huntsman (The Woodlands, Texas / USA; www.huntsman.com – see Plasteurope.com of 26.07.2017). According to the company, comparable activities closed with a negative USD 87m in 2016. Adjusted EBITDA quintupled to USD 395m, and sales grew by 3.2% to USD 2.21 bn in fiscal 2017.

In the titanium dioxide segment, revenues also rose by 3.2%, amounting to USD 1.6 bn for the full year. However, the segment benefited enormously from increased selling prices. Despite the slump in sales caused by a fire at its production site in Pori / Finland – see Plasteurope.com of 01.02.2017 – adjusted EBITDA shot up 534% to USD 387m. The profit development of Venator’s Performance Additives division was more subdued. Sales here increased by 3.4% to USD 605m, while adjusted EBITDA grew by 4.3% to USD 72m.

Venator announced that the reconstruction of its speciality division at the Pori site is advancing according to plan, with full-scale production possible by the end of 2018. On the downside, full production capacity of its titanium dioxide activities probably will not be reached before 2020. Venator also expects the reconstruction costs to exceed the insurance sum by up to USD 375m.