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Chemtura reports 4Q and full year 2013 results
FINANCIALS
increase of 12.1% from KRW20.5 billion in 2012, boosted by a 59.7% rise in net profits for the fourth quarter to KRW6.38 billion from KRW3.99 million a year earlier. The company’s sales revenues reached KRW169 billion for the fourth quarter of 2013, an increase of 11.5% on 4Q 2012, contributing to total sales of KRW692 billion for the full year, an increase of 1.8% compared to KRW679.6 billion in 2012. Sales volumes in 2013 rose by 6.6%, or 7715 tonnes, compared to 2012. Operating profit fell back in both reporting periods but the corresponding EBIT figures rose, almost doubling in 4Q 2013. Songwon’s CFO and executive committee member HansPeter Wüest says that the steady progress achieved in recent years continued in 2013. The company’s core polymer stabilizers business ‘provided the engine for growth in 2013’, with revenues of almost KRW450 billion representing a 12.5% increase compared to 2012 levels, he reports. This strong performance was based on particularly strong growth of the new HALS and thioester product groups based on back-integration (joint venture with Tangshan Baifu) and distribution agreements (Sabo) [ADPO, December 2010 and December 2012, respectively], according to Wüest. ‘We have once again delivered positive results during a year of economic uncertainty and this reflects our ongoing ability to deliver organic growth’, comments Jongho Park, Songwon’s chairman and CEO. The company has recently exited several business activities that it judged unsatisfactory in terms of competitiveness, sustainability and desired returns, he reveals. ‘As a result, the growth of our underlying core business was significantly higher than the 1.8% we have shown overall’, Park says. Contact: Songwon Industrial Co, Ltd, Ulsan, Korea. Tel: +82 522 739 841, Web: www.songwonind.com
Chemtura reports 4Q and full year 2013 results
F
or the year to 31 December 2013, Chemtura Corp posted a net loss of US$22 million on a GAAP basis, compared to net earnings of $103 million in 2012. Operating income fell 45% to $98 million, while net sales from continuing operations increased 2% to $2.231 billion in 2013 from $2.196 billion the previous year.
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Additives for Polymers
For the fourth quarter of 2013, the company reported net sales of $544 million, up 2% from $533 million in 4Q 2012, with higher sales volume of $21 million offset by lower selling prices of $7 million and unfavourable foreign currency translation of $3 million. Operating income for 4Q 2013 decreased $1 million compared to the previous year to $24 million, primarily due to increased facility closures, severance and related costs. Net earnings from continuing operations attributable to Chemtura on a GAAP basis were $13 million in 4Q 2013, down 32% from $19 million a year earlier. According to Chemtura’s CEO Craig A. Rogerson, the company was ‘encouraged to complete what has been a challenging year with a fourth quarter performance that exceeded our performance in the fourth quarter of 2012’. For the year as a whole, the company ‘made significant progress in shaping its portfolio’, with the successful completion of the divestitures of its antioxidant and consumer products businesses, Rogerson comments. In 2013, the Industrial Performance Products segment increased revenues by 10% to $979 million from $891 million in 2012. Operating income increased by 7% to $109 million, while adjusted EBITDA (which also takes into account facility closures, severance costs and depreciation and amortization) increased by 9%, having absorbed the impact of the start-up of its new plants in Ankerweg, The Netherlands and Nantong, China, Chemtura reports. In the fourth quarter of 2013, the segment’s net sales increased $28 million or 13% to $242 million as a result of a $26 million increase in sales volume, a $1 million year-over-year increase in selling prices and $1 million from favourable foreign currency translation. Operating income increased $5 million or 25% in the fourth quarter of 2013 to $25 million. The segment also reported increased SG&A and R&D costs in the quarter. Industrial Performance Products delivered a $5 million or 18% yearover-year improvement in adjusted EBITDA. Chemtura reports that its Industrial Engineered Products segment ‘took a step back’ during 2013 due to difficult market conditions; it has been affected by changes in demand and price mainly around insulation foam applications. According to Rogerson, the company has ‘actions in place’ to drive revenue, price and cost improvements in 2014 but the segment is still ‘exposed to several challenging application markets’. The segment’s annual net sales were $803 million compared to $896 million in 2012, while operating income was significantly reduced to $55 million from $140 million the previous year. In the fourth quarter its net sales decreased $26 million or 12% to $195 million, reflecting a $14 million decrease in
May 2014
MARKETS
sales volume and $13 million in lower selling prices, partly offset by $1 million from favourable foreign currency translation. Operating income decreased $7 million or 25% in 4Q 2013 to $21 million. Its 4Q adjusted EBITDA of $31 million showed sequential improvement over the $11 million achieved in 3Q 2013, though still some way short of the $40 million posted in 4Q 2012. The lower net sales and operating income reflected lower selling prices and weaker sales volumes yearover-year for the company’s flame retardant products used in insulation foam applications due to the reduction in demand in the first half of 2013. Some of this weakness was offset by an improvement in flame retardants sold into electronics applications and products utilized in energy-related applications, coupled with favourable selling prices for tin-based organometallic products, Chemtura reports. Manufacturing costs and variances for the segment were favourable compared with the previous year due to restructuring initiatives that were implemented in the third quarter of 2013. Contact: Chemtura Corp, Middlebury, CT, USA. Tel: +1 203 573 2000, Web: www.chemtura.com
MARKETS Global market for plastics additives to reach US$60 billion by 2020
T
he global market for plastics additives was valued at US$43.4 billion in 2013 and is expected to reach $47.7 billion in 2015. The market is then forecast to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.8% over the fiveyear period from 2015 to 2020 to attain a value of $60.3 billion by 2020. These figures are among the main findings of new study Global Markets for Plastics Additives (report code: PLS022D),
May 2014
published in March 2014 by US market research company BCC Research LLC. The new report analyses global market trends for plastics additives, with data for 2013, estimates and projections of data for 2015 and 2020, and projections of CAGRs for the period 2015 to 2020. In value terms, property modifiers (which include plasticizers and flame retardants, among others) accounted for the greatest share of the total additives market in 2013 at approximately $24 billion, followed by property stabilizers at around half that figure, with property extenders and processing aids making up the remainder. The study updates BCC Research’s previous analysis of this sector, published in 2012 when the world market for plastics additives was reckoned at $41.3 billion and a similar five-year CAGR of 4.9% was predicted. According to BCC Research, the goal of its latest market research study is to identify and measure the market opportunities for the full range of plastics additives. The global additives market is broken down and measured by various parameters, and future growth is forecast ‘for both the overall market and every possible market segment’, the company says. Regional markets for plastics additives are also measured and examined in detail. Aspects relating to the supply and pricing of raw materials and the basic feedstocks of various plastics additives are also studied and analysed in this report, as is the consolidation and globalization of the plastics processing industry. The environmental and regulatory aspects of different types of plastics additives continue to present concerns as well as opportunities to additive suppliers, and the effects of these factors on the supply chain, value and demand for additives have also been studied in detail in the report. The intended audience for the market study encompasses manufacturers, distributors and suppliers of plastics additives and masterbatches; manufacturers of resins and speciality chemicals; and advisors to the plastics processing and plastics additives industries. The 230-page report is priced at $6650 for a single-user licence. Contact: BCC Research LLC, Wellesley, MA, USA. Tel: +1 781 489 7301, Web: www.bccresearch.com
Additives for Polymers
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increase of 12.1% from KRW20.5 billion in 2012, boosted by a 59.7% rise in net profits for the fourth quarter to KRW6.38 billion from KRW3.99 million a year earlier. The company’s sales revenues reached KRW169 billion for the fourth quarter of 2013, an increase of 11.5% on 4Q 2012, contributing to total sales of KRW692 billion for the full year, an increase of 1.8% compared to KRW679.6 billion in 2012. Sales volumes in 2013 rose by 6.6%, or 7715 tonnes, compared to 2012. Operating profit fell back in both reporting periods but the corresponding EBIT figures rose, almost doubling in 4Q 2013. Songwon’s CFO and executive committee member HansPeter Wüest says that the steady progress achieved in recent years continued in 2013. The company’s core polymer stabilizers business ‘provided the engine for growth in 2013’, with revenues of almost KRW450 billion representing a 12.5% increase compared to 2012 levels, he reports. This strong performance was based on particularly strong growth of the new HALS and thioester product groups based on back-integration (joint venture with Tangshan Baifu) and distribution agreements (Sabo) [ADPO, December 2010 and December 2012, respectively], according to Wüest. ‘We have once again delivered positive results during a year of economic uncertainty and this reflects our ongoing ability to deliver organic growth’, comments Jongho Park, Songwon’s chairman and CEO. The company has recently exited several business activities that it judged unsatisfactory in terms of competitiveness, sustainability and desired returns, he reveals. ‘As a result, the growth of our underlying core business was significantly higher than the 1.8% we have shown overall’, Park says. Contact: Songwon Industrial Co, Ltd, Ulsan, Korea. Tel: +82 522 739 841, Web: www.songwonind.com
Chemtura reports 4Q and full year 2013 results
F
or the year to 31 December 2013, Chemtura Corp posted a net loss of US$22 million on a GAAP basis, compared to net earnings of $103 million in 2012. Operating income fell 45% to $98 million, while net sales from continuing operations increased 2% to $2.231 billion in 2013 from $2.196 billion the previous year.
10
Additives for Polymers
For the fourth quarter of 2013, the company reported net sales of $544 million, up 2% from $533 million in 4Q 2012, with higher sales volume of $21 million offset by lower selling prices of $7 million and unfavourable foreign currency translation of $3 million. Operating income for 4Q 2013 decreased $1 million compared to the previous year to $24 million, primarily due to increased facility closures, severance and related costs. Net earnings from continuing operations attributable to Chemtura on a GAAP basis were $13 million in 4Q 2013, down 32% from $19 million a year earlier. According to Chemtura’s CEO Craig A. Rogerson, the company was ‘encouraged to complete what has been a challenging year with a fourth quarter performance that exceeded our performance in the fourth quarter of 2012’. For the year as a whole, the company ‘made significant progress in shaping its portfolio’, with the successful completion of the divestitures of its antioxidant and consumer products businesses, Rogerson comments. In 2013, the Industrial Performance Products segment increased revenues by 10% to $979 million from $891 million in 2012. Operating income increased by 7% to $109 million, while adjusted EBITDA (which also takes into account facility closures, severance costs and depreciation and amortization) increased by 9%, having absorbed the impact of the start-up of its new plants in Ankerweg, The Netherlands and Nantong, China, Chemtura reports. In the fourth quarter of 2013, the segment’s net sales increased $28 million or 13% to $242 million as a result of a $26 million increase in sales volume, a $1 million year-over-year increase in selling prices and $1 million from favourable foreign currency translation. Operating income increased $5 million or 25% in the fourth quarter of 2013 to $25 million. The segment also reported increased SG&A and R&D costs in the quarter. Industrial Performance Products delivered a $5 million or 18% yearover-year improvement in adjusted EBITDA. Chemtura reports that its Industrial Engineered Products segment ‘took a step back’ during 2013 due to difficult market conditions; it has been affected by changes in demand and price mainly around insulation foam applications. According to Rogerson, the company has ‘actions in place’ to drive revenue, price and cost improvements in 2014 but the segment is still ‘exposed to several challenging application markets’. The segment’s annual net sales were $803 million compared to $896 million in 2012, while operating income was significantly reduced to $55 million from $140 million the previous year. In the fourth quarter its net sales decreased $26 million or 12% to $195 million, reflecting a $14 million decrease in
May 2014
MARKETS
sales volume and $13 million in lower selling prices, partly offset by $1 million from favourable foreign currency translation. Operating income decreased $7 million or 25% in 4Q 2013 to $21 million. Its 4Q adjusted EBITDA of $31 million showed sequential improvement over the $11 million achieved in 3Q 2013, though still some way short of the $40 million posted in 4Q 2012. The lower net sales and operating income reflected lower selling prices and weaker sales volumes yearover-year for the company’s flame retardant products used in insulation foam applications due to the reduction in demand in the first half of 2013. Some of this weakness was offset by an improvement in flame retardants sold into electronics applications and products utilized in energy-related applications, coupled with favourable selling prices for tin-based organometallic products, Chemtura reports. Manufacturing costs and variances for the segment were favourable compared with the previous year due to restructuring initiatives that were implemented in the third quarter of 2013. Contact: Chemtura Corp, Middlebury, CT, USA. Tel: +1 203 573 2000, Web: www.chemtura.com
MARKETS Global market for plastics additives to reach US$60 billion by 2020
T
he global market for plastics additives was valued at US$43.4 billion in 2013 and is expected to reach $47.7 billion in 2015. The market is then forecast to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.8% over the fiveyear period from 2015 to 2020 to attain a value of $60.3 billion by 2020. These figures are among the main findings of new study Global Markets for Plastics Additives (report code: PLS022D),
May 2014
published in March 2014 by US market research company BCC Research LLC. The new report analyses global market trends for plastics additives, with data for 2013, estimates and projections of data for 2015 and 2020, and projections of CAGRs for the period 2015 to 2020. In value terms, property modifiers (which include plasticizers and flame retardants, among others) accounted for the greatest share of the total additives market in 2013 at approximately $24 billion, followed by property stabilizers at around half that figure, with property extenders and processing aids making up the remainder. The study updates BCC Research’s previous analysis of this sector, published in 2012 when the world market for plastics additives was reckoned at $41.3 billion and a similar five-year CAGR of 4.9% was predicted. According to BCC Research, the goal of its latest market research study is to identify and measure the market opportunities for the full range of plastics additives. The global additives market is broken down and measured by various parameters, and future growth is forecast ‘for both the overall market and every possible market segment’, the company says. Regional markets for plastics additives are also measured and examined in detail. Aspects relating to the supply and pricing of raw materials and the basic feedstocks of various plastics additives are also studied and analysed in this report, as is the consolidation and globalization of the plastics processing industry. The environmental and regulatory aspects of different types of plastics additives continue to present concerns as well as opportunities to additive suppliers, and the effects of these factors on the supply chain, value and demand for additives have also been studied in detail in the report. The intended audience for the market study encompasses manufacturers, distributors and suppliers of plastics additives and masterbatches; manufacturers of resins and speciality chemicals; and advisors to the plastics processing and plastics additives industries. The 230-page report is priced at $6650 for a single-user licence. Contact: BCC Research LLC, Wellesley, MA, USA. Tel: +1 781 489 7301, Web: www.bccresearch.com
Additives for Polymers
11