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news.Lanxess, a Germany-based specialty chemicals group, has reported a net profit of EUR14m for the fourth quarter of 2009, compared with a net loss of EUR32m in the same period a year ago.
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EBITDA pre exceptionals in the fourth quarter of 2009 was EUR144m, slightly high compared to EUR87m in the fourth quarter of 2008, which was dominated by the effects of the financial crisis.
Lanxess has reported sales of EUR1.39bn, a decrease of 4.8%, compared to EUR1.46bn for the comparable period in 2008.
Revenue for the fourth quarter fell nearly 5% to EUR1.4bn from EUR1.5bn in 2008.
For the full year 2009, Lanxess has posted a net income of EUR40m, compared to EUR183m for the year ago period. Revenue was EUR5.05bn for the 12 months, a decrease of 23.1%, compared to EUR6.57bn for the year ago period.
Lanxess expects the economic landscape to show regional variations in its development in 2010, with Asia showing the significant improvement. The economic climate in Latin America, and in particular Brazil, is expected to brighten. The company expects raw material costs to rise again in 2010.
Axel Heitmann, chairman of the board of management of Lanxess, said: “We therefore expect a significant year-on-year improvement in earnings, even if there is currently no sign of a self-sustaining upswing. Our results in the crisis year show that we passed the stress test.”