Corrected: Belgium’s Solvay Q4 net profit surges to €199m

18 February 2010 08:00  [Source: ICIS news]

Correction: In the ICIS news story headlined “Belgium’s Solvay Q4 net profit surges to €199m” dated 18 February 2010, please read in the fifth paragraph … proceeds from the €5.2bn sale … instead of … €4.5bn sale…. A corrected story follows.

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--Belgium chemical producer Solvay on Thursday reported a surge in its year-on-year fourth-quarter net income to €199m ($273m), up from €23m a year earlier, after cost-cutting measures offset a fall in sales.

Total sales in the fourth quarter dipped 3% to €2.2bn as sales in its chemicals segment fell by 15% to €649m. Its plastics segment, on the other hand, registered a 7% increase in sales to €802m.

Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) in the fourth quarter rose nearly threefold to €272m, compared with €94m in the same period a year earlier.

For the full year in 2009, the company recorded a 23% rise in net income to €553m, from €449 a year earlier, while total sales fell 11% to €8.49bn.

Solvay would this year concentrate on reinvesting the proceeds from the €5.2bn sale of its pharmaceutical division to Abbott Laboratories, the company said in a statement.

"Thanks to its growth initiatives, its competitive positions and the measures taken in the last two years, Solvay is prepared in case of a longer crisis. Market conditions remain challenging," the company added.

($1 = €0.73)

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By: Nurluqman Suratman

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