(news.yahoo) -- Akzo Nobel NV, the world's largest
maker of paints and coatings, has reported EUR68 million (USD89 million) loss
for the fourth quarter due to rising commodity costs and a one-time
charge.
The loss compares to profit of euro162 million in the fourth
quarter of 2010. Sales rose 4.7 percent to EUR3.79 billion. Akzo Nobel's
paint arm, which supplies Walmart, was badly hit by rising costs of titanium
dioxide, a key paint pigment. The company's coatings and chemicals arms saw
relatively mild declines in operating profit, also due to rising raw materials
costs.
The company also bought back more than half a billion euros of its
own bond debt to refinance at lower interest rates, taking a charge of EUR67
million.
mrcplast.com |