Financial News
Akzo’s sales drop 10%
AkzoNobel’s revenue, including its decorative paints, performance coatings and specialty chemicals operations, dropped
10% to € 3.668 billion ($5.190 billion) for the second quarter.
The decorative paints business unit saw its revenue fall five
percent compared to last year’s second quarter. In Europe, the
professional segment continued to be weak due to low construction activity, while the retail business was more resilient.
The U.S. paint market continued to experience soft demand,
but the contraction in the second quarter was less severe than
during the first quarter of 2009, which saw revenue fall 11%.
Revenue for the performance coatings unit dropped 14%, but
the company noted strong performance in marine, protective
and packaging coatings. Marine coatings in particular had a
good quarter the company said, despite lower new construction and maintenance demand. Car refinishes also experienced improved demand in tough market conditions, compared with the first quarter of 2009.
DUPONT COATINGS & COLOR TECH. 2Q SALES DROP 26%
DuPont’s coatings and color technologies business unit, which
includes its titanium dioxide products, reported sales of $1.4
billion, down 26% in the second quarter compared to the period last year. The company said the sales drop was due to continued weakness in motor vehicle markets and, to a lesser
extent, titanium dioxide operations. Pre-tax operating income
(PTOI) of $133 million reflects lower sales volumes and unfavorable currency impact, partly offset by fixed cost reductions
and pricing gains.
SHERWIN-WILLIAMS’ 2Q SALES SLIDE 12.6%
Sherwin-Williams’ sales decreased $281.7 million, or 12.6%, to
$1.95 billion in the second quarter compared to the same period last year, and decreased $512.7 million, or 12.8%, to $3.50
billion in six months due primarily to weak paint sales volume. Sales in the paint stores group decreased 13.7% to $1.17
billion in the quarter and 13.3% to $2.07 billion in six months
due primarily to weak architectural paint sales volumes in the
domestic new residential, residential repaint, commercial and
DIY markets and significantly lower sales in industrial coatings and non-paint categories. Sales of the consumer group
decreased 4.5% to $366.5 million in the quarter and 2.4% to
$654.6 million in six months due primarily to lower volume
sales to most of the group’s retail customers partially offset by
additional sales related to new products. The global finishes
group’s sales decreased 16.2% to $409.7 million in the quarter
and 18.8% to $772.2 million in six months due primarily to
lower paint sales volume and unfavorable currency translation rate changes. CW
