Corrected: France’s Arkema swings to Q4 net profit of €58m, sales jump 32%

02 March 2011 07:33  [Source: ICIS news]

Correction: In the ICIS story headlined "France’s Arkema swings to Q4 net profit of €58m, sales jump 32%" dated 02 March 2011, please read in the fifth paragraph ... its performance products segment ... instead of ... the business .... An extraneous paragraph was removed. A corrected story follows.

SINGAPORE (ICIS)--French specialty chemicals firm Arkema said on Wednesday it swung into a net profit of €58m ($79.5m) in the fourth-quarter of 2010 against a €20m loss in the previous corresponding period as sales jumped 32.4%.

Sales for the three months ending December 2010 grew to €1.43bn from €1.08bn in the previous corresponding period, due to “significant price increases reflecting Arkema’s ability to pass-on higher raw material costs”, the company said.

Its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the quarter more than doubled to €166m.

Meanwhile, the company’s industrial chemicals business had a 48.6% surge in sales to €786m, with EBITDA soaring 76.6% to €136m, partly helped by acquisitions, it said.

Its performance products business recorded a 23.4% increase in sales to €390m, with an EBITDA of €37m, up 27.6% year on year.

Its vinyls products, meanwhile, trimmed its fourth-quarter loss to €10m from €18m in the previous corresponding period, with sales rising 8.1%, Arkema said.

For the whole of 2010, Arkema posted a net profit of €347m against a net loss of €172m in 2009, with sales up 32.9% year on year to €5.91bn, it said.

EBITDA last year surged to €790m from €310m in 2009, it said.

($1 = €0.73)

By: Pearl Bantillo
+65 6780 4359

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