Leather is a “discounted operation” in Clariant 2012 results
14/02/2013
Its reported full-year sales figure for 2012 was just over CHF 6 billion, compared to CHF 5.6 billion in 2011. Sales in Europe declined by 2% as the weakness in southern European markets “spread across the continent in the second half of the year”, it said. However, in all other parts of the world, Clariant recorded double-digit growth. The company said it was now generating two-thirds of sales outside Europe.
In 2012 Clariant announced it would be looking for “strategic options” (in other words, buyers) for its business units for leather, textiles, paper, emulsions and, lastly, detergents and intermediates. It agreed a deal with US-based investment firm SK Capital at the end of December for its textile, paper and emulsions businesses and said on reporting its results for 2012 that it was now “weighing up options” for leather, as well as for detergents and intermediates. It reported these business units as “discounted operations” in its 2012 results and will continue to do so until it has sold them off.
This means that the reported sales figure for 2012 does not take into account sales of leather chemicals and the results of the other “discounted operations”. Together, these operations would have added almost CHF 1.8 billion to Clariant’s top-line figures for 2012.
On announcing the 2012 results, chief executive, Hariolf Kottmann, commented: “Concerning the repositioning of Clariant, the company has made good progress. Five businesses have been reclassified as discontinued operations and an agreement to divest three of those businesses has already been signed. The focus in 2013 will now be on growing the remaining seven core businesses. Combined with continuous cost efficiency, the reshaped Clariant is well positioned to achieve its 2015 targets.”
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