Germany's Brenntag more than doubles Q3 net profit to €43.3m

SINGAPORE (ICIS)--German chemical distributor said on Thursday it more than doubled its third-quarter net profit to €43.3m ($59.3m) from to €19.9m in the same period a year earlier, led by sales in the Asia-Pacific region.

Sales for the three-month period to September rose 25.4% to €2.02bn, with operating earnings before interests, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rising 16.7% to €160.3m, it said.

“Brenntag achieved again exceptional growth rates in the Asia-Pacific region. In addition, North America provided excellent results, accompanied by a positive development in Europe,” the company said in a statement.

The company generated €16.2m in operating gross profit from Asia-Pacific, versus the gain €4m in the same period last year, it said.

For the first nine months of the year, Brenntag posted a 14.3% increase in operating EBITDA at €391.7m on sales of €5.71bn, up 18.6% year on year.

The company said it expects an operating EBITDA in the range of €570m-600m for the whole of 2010.

($1 = €0.73)