Financial News
Christopher Connor, chairman and CEO. “For the second quarter, we anticipate that our consolidated net sales will decline
nine to twelve percent over last year’s second quarter.
PPG’S 1Q SALES DROP 30%
PPG has reported $2.8 billion sales for the first quarter, a
decline of 30%, or $111 million, versus last year’s first quarter.
Income for the quarter was $32 million. First quarter 2008
sales were $4 billion and income was $100 million.
“Our first quarter results reflect continued deterioration in
the global economy, resulting in lower demand in many of the
end-use markets we serve,” said Charles Bunch, PPG chairman and CEO. “The most significant drop-offs occurred in
global automotive OEM and in many industrial markets.
“March ended better than we initially anticipated, as activity steadied in several U.S. end-use markets,” Bunch continued. “Our Asia Pacific region performed well in both February
and March, nearly matching our strong prior year demand levels in both months. And, in Europe, our architectural coatings
EMEA segment, despite being down for the quarter in total,
delivered flat year-over-year
sales volumes in March.
“Looking ahead,” Bunch
added, “we anticipate some
seasonal demand growth in
the second quarter, but
expect activity levels to
remain low in comparison with recent years.”
Performance coatings segment sales in the first quarter
2009 decreased $186 million, or 17%, versus the prior
year’s quarter. Sales declined as a result of lower volumes, particularly in the company’s automotive refinish
business and architectural coatings—Americas and
Asia/Pacific business. Segment earnings decreased $31
million, as lower volumes and weaker foreign currencies
were not fully offset by increased selling prices and
tighter cost control.
Industrial coatings segment sales for the quarter decreased
$414 million, or 39%, due primarily to lower volumes in the
automotive OEM coatings and industrial coatings businesses,
reflecting the continued severe declines in global demand.
Segment earnings for the quarter were a loss of $16 million, a
decrease of $111 million due primarily to the negative effects
of lower volumes. These declines were partially offset by lower
overhead and manufacturing costs.
The architectural coatings EMEA sales for the quarter
decreased $127 million, or 24%, due primarily to weaker foreign currency and lower volumes. These declines were slightly
offset by increased selling prices. Segment earnings decreased
by $6 million as lower overhead costs partially offset the
impact of lower sales volumes. CW
