Synthos chemicals falls on 2014 earnings

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Listed chemicals group Synthos likely ended 2014 with neighborhood PLN 357.5 mln in net profits on PLN4.62 bln in revenues, management said in a filing of its preliminary bean count, said the company in its press-release.

EBIT was listed at near the PLN 479.6 mln mark; amortization at PLN 156.2 mln. ON the balance sheet, 2014 ended with net debt at PLN 732.2 mln and a net debt to EBITDA ratio of 1.15, management said.

Calculating against 9M earnings previously released, Synthos likely fell well short of consensus expectations on a neighborhood PLN 66.3 mln Q4 net profit on PLN 1.04 bln in revenues.

As MRC wrote before, Synthos, which has a unit in the Czech Republic, announced in March after reaching an agreement with Michelin, it will build a rubber plant in Brazil with a capacity of as much as 90,000 tons a year, expanding output by 20%.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Asahi Kasei Corp, a Japanese chemicals maker, said it would buy Polypore International Inc's Energy Storage segment for USD2.2 billion, as it seeks to expand in the energy and environment business, said Reuters.

Asahi Kasei will acquire all of the outstanding shares of North Carolina-based Polypore for USD60.50 a share, representing an enterprise value for the company of approximately USD3.2 billion, the companies said. Polypore shares closed at USD52.95 on Friday.

Immediately prior to the acquisition, 3M Co will buy the assets of Polypore's Separations Media segment for approximately USD1 billion and Asahi Kasei will receive the cash proceeds from the asset sale, they said.

The transactions have been approved by the boards of directors of Asahi Kasei, 3M, and Polypore.

As MRC wrote previously, Asahi Kasei’s (Tokyo, Japan) Fibers division will expand production capacity for polypropylene spunbond nonwovens in Thailand at its subsidiary Asahi Kasei Spunbond (Thailand) Co. AKST will add a new production line of 20,000 metric tons per year capacity which, combined with its existing production line, will double its capacity for spunbond nonwovens to 40,000 m.t/yr. The investment for the capacity expansion is approximately USD5 billion, with a scheduled startup of November 2015.

Asahi Kasei Corporation is a global Japanese chemical company. Its main products are chemicals and materials science.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Phillips 66 Partners announced an agreement with Phillips 66 to acquire its interests in three pipeline systems, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The acquisition includes one-third equity interests in the limited liability companies that respectively own the Sand Hills and Southern Hills natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline systems, and a 19.46% equity interest in Explorer Pipeline Co., the owner of the Explorer refined products pipeline system.

In exchange, Phillips 66 will receive total consideration of USD1.01 B consisting of USD880 M in cash and 1.7 million newly issued PSXP units to be allocated between common units and general partner units in a proportion allowing the general partner to maintain its 2% general partner interest.

The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive and is anticipated to close in early March 2015. "This acquisition will expand our fee-based portfolio into NGL transportation and provide us with an interest in one of the largest refined products pipeline systems in the US," said Greg Garland, Phillips 66 Partners chairman and CEO.

The transaction includes Phillips 66’s equity interests in entities holding the following assets:

The 720-mi Sand Hills NGL pipeline system provides takeaway service from DCP Midstream and third-party plants in the Permian and the Eagle Ford basins to fractionation facilities along the Texas Gulf Coast and the Mont Belvieu, Texas market hub. The system has a capacity of 200 Mbpd and is expandable up to 350 Mbpd with additional pumping stations.
The 800-mi Southern Hills NGL pipeline system provides takeaway service from DCP Midstream and third-party plants in the Midcontinent to fractionation facilities along the Texas Gulf Coast and the Mont Belvieu, Texas market hub. The system has a capacity of 175 Mbpd.
The 1,830-mi Explorer Refined Products pipeline system provides connectivity to refineries and market centers from the Gulf Coast to the Midwest. The system has a capacity of 660 Mbpd.

The terms of the transaction were approved by the board of directors of the general partner of Phillips 66 Partners, based on the approval and recommendation of its conflicts committee, which is comprised solely of independent directors. The conflicts committee engaged Evercore Partners to act as its financial advisor and Vinson & Elkins, LLP to act as its legal counsel.

As MRC informed before, Phillips 66 and Chevron Phillips Chemical are teaming up with the Sweeny Independent School District in Texas to help fund the creation of a petrochemical academy.

Phillips 66 is an American multinational energy company headquartered in Westchase, Houston, Texas. It debuted as an independent energy company when ConocoPhillips spun off its downstream assets and midstream assets. Phillips 66 began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on May 1, 2012, under the ticker PSX. The company is engaged in producing natural gas liquids (NGL) and petrochemicals.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions, the engineering and construction specialist of the ThyssenKrupp Group, has won a follow-up order from the Hungarian fertilizer manufacturer Nitrogenmuvek Zrt. to expand its production capacity, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing.

A 1,150 tpd nitric acid plant will be built at Petfurdo, approximately 100 km southwest of Budapest, and is scheduled for completion in 2017.

Nitrogenmuvek Zrt. already operates two ammonium nitrate plants supplied by ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions at the Petfurdo site. A plant to manufacture granulated calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN) and ammonium nitrate fertilizer is currently under construction.

ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions is responsible for engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning of the new nitric acid plant.

As MRC wrote before, ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions is making its Steam Active Reforming (STAR) process available to Formosa Plastics Corp (FPC) for a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) project in Texas, USA. The PDH plant is to be built at Formosa's existing petrochemical complex in Point Comfort.

The PDH plant in Point Comfort will have a capacity of 545,000 tpy of propylene and is part of the Point Comfort petrochemical complex expansion announced by FPC in February 2012.
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