US OxyChem’s Q1 net earnings fall 16% on lower export volumes

26 April 2012 13:02  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS)--Occidental Petroleum’s chemicals business, OxyChem, reported a 16% year-on-year decrease in its 2012 first-quarter net earnings to $184m, primarily as a result of lower export volumes and higher raw material costs, the US-based firm said on Wednesday.

Higher raw material costs were mainly caused by a rapid increase in ethylene prices.

“Calcium chloride sales volumes for de-icing applications were significantly lower due to the mild winter weather,” it added.

OxyChem’s sales for the first quarter of 2012 fell 1.5% year on year to $1.15bn ($874m) from $1.17bn.

Overall, Occidental Petroleum, an oil and gas exploration and production company, reported a first-quarter net income of $1.56bn – up slightly from $1.55bn for the same period in 2011.

The group’s total sales in the first quarter rose 9.5% year on year to $6.27bn.

Stephen Chazen, president and CEO, said: “For the quarter, we generated strong results with diluted EPS [earnings per share] of $1.92 per share, cash flow from operations of $2.8bn and annualised ROE [return on equity] of 16%”.

($1 = €0.76)

By: Franco Capaldo
+44 (0)20 8652 3214

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