Shin Etsu Q3 operating income up 18.5%

17 January 2008 06:27  [Source: ICIS news]

TOKYO (ICIS news)--Shin-Etsu Chemical on Thursday reported an 18.5% increase in  third-quarter operating income from the previous year partly on steady sales at its Dutch subsidiary Shin-Etsu PVC.

Consolidated operating income at the Japanese chemical company for the nine months ended 31 December was yen (Y) 213.5bn ($1.9bn), up from Y180.1bn in the same time a year ago.

Net sales rose 7.4% to Y1043.6bn from Y971.3bn year on year, while net income increased 26.7% to Y143.4bn from Y113.2bn.

For polyvinyl chloride (PVC) business operations, while the competitors’ sales fell due to an impact of decreased construction of houses in North America, sales of the PVC subsidiary Shintech in the US were steady with its plants operating at full rate because the company quickly shifted its focus to exports, Shin-Etsu said.

However, PVC sales in Japan were sluggish because demand did not grow due to high feedstock costs, it added.

For cellulose derivatives, while domestic business was still in the process of recovery after the explosion of the plant in Naoetsu in March 2007, sales at SE Tylose in Germany rose due to a capacity expansion.

As a result, the third-quarter operating income in the organic and inorganic chemicals segment decreased 10% to Y74bn from Y82.2bn a year ago, while net sales were Y533bn, down 0.02% from Y533.1bn.

In the electronics materials segment, the nine-month operating income rose 56.2% to Y120.6bn from Y77.2bn a year ago, while net sales rose 22.5% to Y429.6bn from Y350.7bn.

($1 = Y107.66)

By: Tomomi Yokomura
+65 6780 4359

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