Lanxess: Successful Start
The specialty chemicals group Lanxess AG, achieved sales of EUR 1.535 billion in the first quarter of 2008, compared to EUR 1.711 billion for the corresponding period of 2007. Adjusted for portfolio and exchange rate effects, the 2007 value was exceeded by 8.1%. The unadjusted sales fell by 10.3% as expected. By focusing rigorously on premium products in leading market positions, the company has once again achieved above-average successes in a challenging market environment.
In the performance polymers segment, sales grew by 5.3% to EUR 693 (658) million. After adjustments, growth was over 12%. The significant growth in raw materials costs was could be transferred to the market in full. The polybutadiene rubber, technical rubber products and semicrystalline products business units expanded their capacities, while the butyl rubber business unit operated almost continuously at full capacity. The polybutadiene business unit profited from the additional capacities of the production line brought on stream in Orange, Texas, USA, in 2007. The segment’s EBITDA before special items improved by 3.0% to EUR 104 (101) million. The EBITDA margin, at 15.0%, was only 0.3 percentage points below the margin of the corresponding quarter in 2007.
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