Poland's ZAT sales set to fall 25% in 2009 - bank

09 January 2009 14:36  [Source: ICIS news]

PRAGUE (ICIS news)--Annual sales revenue at Polish chemical and fertilizer company Zaklady Azotowe Tarnow (ZAT) is set to fall nearly 25% in 2009 on recession-hit markets, investment bank Wood & Company said on Friday.

“For 2009, we expect ZAT sales revenue to decline to zloty (Zl) 1.02bn (€298.1m, $406.4m), which is nearly 25% year-on-year,” said Barbara Zaleska, a chemical industry analyst at the bank.

“This is quite conservative, but in our opinion the recovery on ZAT's key product markets will not come as quickly as the Quarter 2/Quarter 3 [hope of ZAT's CEO Jerzy Marciniak] as it is related to the slowdown in client industries, namely construction, automobiles, textiles and electronics,” she added.

ZAT itself has set a target of Zl1.2bn, though it has stated this would be difficult to achieve.

The company had also informed the market that margins this year would be lower than in 2008, as although current feedstock costs were decreasing alongside output prices, suppliers could default, Zaleska noted.

ZAT is a producer of nitrogen fertilizers, caprolactam and polymers such as polyoxymethylene (POM), a plastic it said was increasingly used to replace heavier materials in the automotive, electrics and electronics industries.

($1 = Zl2.95/€1 = Zl4.03)

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By: Will Conroy
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