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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant's
first-quarter sales and operating profit beat expectations as the Swiss
chemicals maker said it was bolstered by acquisitions and robust demand in
regions including Europe, Asia and North America, said Reuters.
Sales
rose 9 percent in local currency to 1.6 billion Swiss francs (USD1.61 billion),
it said in a statement, ahead of the average analyst estimate of 1.56 billion
francs in a Reuters poll.
Operating profit before exceptional items rose
10 percent to 250 million francs, above the 235 million franc poll
estimate.
Clariant has been helped by acquisitions including in the
United States that added 3 percent to sales and by strong demand for products in
its plastics and coatings and care chemicals division that supplies ingredients
for soaps and consumer products.
The company confirmed its 2017 outlook,
which calls for continued local currency growth, progression in profitability
and operating cash flow generation.
"Our focus on local currency growth
and profitability improvement is clearly reflected in these encouraging
results," Chief Executive Hariolf Kottman said.
"We are on a solid path
towards achieving our sales expansion targets, a continued progression in
absolute EBITDA and EBITDA margin before exceptional items as well as operating
cash flow generation, in spite of what continues to be a challenging market
environment in specific business areas."
Clariant also stuck to its
mid-term target of an EBITDA margin before exceptional items in the range of 16
percent to 19 percent and a return on invested capital (ROIC) above the peer
group average.
As MRC informed before,
in June 2016, Clariant inaugurated its new production plant for water-based
pigment preparations in Mexico. The new plant located in Santa Clara doubles
Clariant’s Mexico annual production capacity for water-based pigment
preparations and enhances its ability to serve customers across North and Latin
America.
Clariant AG is a Swiss chemical company and a world leader in
the production of specialty chemicals for the textile, printing, mining and
metallurgical industries. It is engaged in processing crude oil products in
pigments, plastics and paints. Clariant India has local masterbatch production
activities at Rania, Kalol and Nandesari (Gujarat) and Vashere (Maharashtra)
sites in India. |
