NEWS OF THE W EEK
GOOD TIMES ROLL IN EUROPE RESULTS: Strong third quarter
strengthens confidence of chemical makers
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ISCUSSING HIS COMPANY’S third-quarter results at its annual fall press conference, Bayer Chairman Werner Wenning could have been speaking for the European industry. “We again achieved a gratifying performance in the third quarter,” Wenning said. “This business trend has strengthened our confidence that this will be another very successful year. In fact, we are targeting another record for full-year 2007.” At ICI, which will soon be merged into Akzo Nobel, “the third quarter was particularly strong,” according to Chief Executive John McAdam. “The expected out-
EUROPEAN CHEMICALS
Third-quarter sales and earnings largely improved SALES EARNINGSa CHANGE FROM 2006 ($ MILLIONS) SALES EARNINGS
Akzo Nobel BASF Bayer Ciba Specialty Clariant DSM ICI Kemira Rhodia Solvay
$3,696.9 19,854.0 11,080.9 1,403.4 1,721.2
$221.8 1,724.8 1,677.8 72.8 -38.6
3,109.7 2,536.4 1,037.3 1,793.0 3,411.1
201.9 297.7 75.2 64.0 310.0
1.8% 5.0 4.5 4.4 5.1 4.2 1.7 11.8 7.0 4.1
15.6% 97.9 364.6 -8.6 nm 1.4 43.1 15.3 -35.7 20.4
PROFIT MARGINb 2007 2006
6.0% 8.7 15.1 5.2 def
5.3% 4.6 3.4 5.9 def
6.5 11.5 7.3 3.6 9.1
6.7 8.2 7.0 5.9 7.9
a After-tax earnings from continuing operations, excluding significant extraordinary and nonrecurring items. b After-tax earnings as a percentage of sales. def = deficit. nm = not meaningful.
turn for the year as a whole has improved. Results for the fourth quarter and the year are forecast to be ahead of our previous expectations.” A strengthened business portfolio boosted Rhodia’s sales by 7% in the quarter. In fact, Rhodia said, the third-quarter results confirm its 2007 outlook of strong growth in operating profits. Many companies said they were able to surmount high raw material and energy costs by passing them on to customers in the form of price increases. Foreigncurrency effects were more problematic. Rhodia, for one, noted that its sales increase came from a 9% volume growth and a 3% boost from price increases; the growth in sales, though, was offset by a negative impact of more than 4% from foreign exchange rates. Several companies accompanied their third-quarter results announcements with cost-cutting news. Bayer MaterialScience announced the goal of saving roughly $440 million per year by the end of 2009 by cutting about 1,500 jobs from its polymers operations in the U.S., the Netherlands, and Germany. About half those jobs will be from production and half from administration. According to Patrick W. Thomas, chairman of Bayer MaterialScience, the streamlining reflects the reduced needs of a unit that during the past few years has divested businesses with nearly $3 billion in sales. At Clariant, decentralization measures will eliminate about 100 jobs at its headquarters near Basel, Switzerland. The company said in a statement it is shifting the accountability for its businesses “closer to customers and markets.” Clariant booked about $100 million in restructuring costs in the third quarter to cover closing a specialty chemicals site in Selby, England. The company also announced that it will close a pigments and additives facility in Rhode Island and a masterbatches plant in Mexico, taking the charges in the fourth quarter. For the full year, it added, restructuring costs will total roughly $215 million.—PATRICIA SHORT
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING Cooper Union wins Chem-E-Car competition calculate how much fuel would be needed to power the cars so that the chemical reaction would end and the vehicles would stop on the finish line. Remote controls or other devices were not permitted. With 28 schools competing, Cooper Union won the $2,000 top prize. Team captain Mukarram Razvi says the five-person team had worked on their design since August.
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Baking soda and vinegar helped a team of chemical engineering students from Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science & Art, in New York City, win the 2007 Chem-E-Car competition on Nov. 4. The national finals for the ninth annual alternative-fuel-vehicle competition were held in Salt Lake City at the meeting of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). At this year’s event, the shoebox-sized vehicles had to transport 350 mL of water exactly 67 feet. But the teams weren’t told the cargo size or the distance until shortly before the start. The challenge was to
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NOV E M BE R 1 2 , 20 07
Razvi shows off Cooper Union’s winning vehicle. The team from Carnegie Mellon University, in Pittsburgh, finished second with a vehicle powered by a copper-zinc battery. The University of Oklahoma team garnered third place with its vehicle fueled by hydrogen peroxide and potassium permanganate.—RACHEL PETKEWICH
