Philadelphia-based specialty chemical company Rohm and Haas reported full-year 2001 sales of $5.7 billion, a fall of 11% from $6.3 billion in 2000. Net earnings were $189 million, down 42% from $324 million in 2000. The company blamed two recent events on poor results for the fourth quarter: the write down of some bad debt and the devaluation of the Argentine currency.

Chairman Raj L. Gupta described the fourth quarter as "reasonable", adding: "external markets continue to stabilise, and we are seeing solid demand for our newer products and technologies. Our repositioning efforts remain on track, and we are moving ahead with the implementation of our ERP transformation."