MOSCOW (MRC) -- Douglas M. Baker Jr., CEO of Ecolab Inc., has announced his retirement effective January 1, 2021, according to ISSA.
Baker will remain in his current position as Ecolab board chairman. Christophe Beck has been appointed Baker’s successor as CEO. Beck currently serves as the company’s president and chief operating officer.
Beck joined Ecolab in 2007 from Nestle S.A. where he served in a variety of executive positions over a 16-year tenure.
As MRC wrote before, Ecolab reported third-quarter net income down 44% year on year (YOY), to USD246.2 million, on net sales down 6%, to USD3.02 billion. Adjusted earnings totaled USD1.15/share, down 24% YOY but slightly ahead of analysts’ consensus estimate of USD1.13/share, as reported by Refinitiv (New York, New York). Volumes declined due to COVID-19 and a less-favorable business mix more than offset cost cuts and higher selling prices.
Global industrial segment sales fell 3% YOY, to USD1.47 billion, while segment operating income was up 18%, to USD293.4 million. Sales were flat in the food and beverage business, but this was offset by declines in other industrial end markets. Higher selling prices, cost cuts, and lower discretionary spending boosted operating income, however.
Global institutional and specialty segment sales were down 22% YOY, to USD896.1 million, while segment operating income fell 71%, to USD82.0 million. Closures and reduced business for restaurants, lodging, and entertainment facilities cut into demand for the segment, more than offsetting higher demand for sanitizing products.
We remind that Russia's output of chemical products rose in September 2020 by 6.7% year on year. At the same time, production of basic chemicals increased by 6.1% year on year in the first nine months of 2020, according to Rosstat's data. According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, polymers in primary form accounted for the greatest increase in the January-September output. Last month's production of primary polymers decreased to 852,000 tonnes from 888,000 tonnes in August due to shutdowns in Tomsk, Ufa and Kazan. Overall output of polymers in primary form totalled 7,480,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 16.4% year on year.
With annual sales of USD15 billion and more than 50,000 associates, Ecolab Inc. specializes in cleaning, sanitizing, food safety, and infection prevention products and services in more than 170 countries
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