US Albemarle Q4 net profit quintuples on strong margin

26 January 2010 03:02  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--US producer Albemarle said on Tuesday its fourth-quarter net profit surged nearly five times to $62.3m (€44.2m) from the same period last year as margins across its three businesses significantly improved.

Sales also grew for the period but at a more moderate pace of 8% to $558.2m, it said.

The company incurred $11.6m in pre-tax restructuring charges related to an asset write-off of its Arkansas facility, which was largely offset by a one-time tax benefit of roughly the same amount, based on its financial results.

Its polymer solutions, catalysts and fine chemicals businesses had a record operating margin of 16.7%, said Mark C. Rohr, chairman and CEO of Albemarle.

“Our plants were able to maintain efficient and cost effective production rates throughout the quarter while we continued our efforts to better manage inventory,” Rohr said.

“Overall, we are encouraged by the trends we are seeing in our businesses … I expect 2010 will be a year of strong overall revenue and profit growth for our company and believe we have the financial flexibility and capability to opportunistically fund future growth initiatives,” Rohr said.

But for the whole of 2009, Albemarle turned in a smaller net profit of $178.4m as sales fell by 18.6%, the company said.

($1 = €0.71)

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By: Pearl Bantillo
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