France’s Rhodia swings to Q1 loss as sales plunge

06 May 2009 07:11  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--French specialty chemicals firm Rhodia said on Wednesday it had incurred a first quarter net loss of €134m ($178.7m) as sales took a beating from slumping demand.

In the same period in 2008, Rhodia made €42m in net profit.

The company said it had spent €20m in restructuring in the three months to March 2009. Sales declined 22.4% year-on-year to €920m with operating losses of €91m.

“Net sales were down … as a result of a contraction in volumes primarily linked to the demand crisis in the automotive, construction and other industrial end-markets across geographic zones,” Rhodia said in a statement.

In the coming quarters, the company said it was bent on keeping financial discipline and would continue to pursue action plans to remain competitive.

“Uncertainty still prevails in a depressed economic environment. No signs of recovery have been seen in Europe and North America,” it said.

The company said it expected customer de-stocking to be complete by the end of the second quarter. “Rhodia has also started to perceive the first signs of slight demand recovery in Asia and Latin America,” it said.

($1 = €0.75)

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By: Pearl Bantillo
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