Rhodia sees 29% fall in Q1 net profit

07 May 2008 07:13  [Source: ICIS news]

MUMBAI (ICIS news)--Rhodia posted a 29% year-on-year drop in its first-quarter net profit to €42m ($65.6m) due to high raw material costs and unfavourable foreign exchange rates, the French chemical producer said on Wednesday.

"Foreign exchange rates and raw material & energy costs are set to remain the key challenges in 2008 but we remain confident in the pricing power of our businesses which benefit from strong leadership positions in dynamic markets," Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, the company CEO said.

For the quarter, the company’s operating profit was down 6% to €93m while its revenue was up 3.8% to €1.18bn, driven by good demand across all businesses, the company added.

"Healthy levels of demand across all businesses have allowed us to increase prices and offset successfully most raw material and energy cost increases," Clamadieu added.

Rhodia said it would continue to exercise its proven pricing power with further price increases underway in all businesses and would take measures to offset the currency impact.

($1 = €0.64)

By: Isha Jha
+65 6780 4359

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly