Cognis achieves increased profits in the face of current trends
Cognis, the speciality chemicals producer, has reported a satisfactory year for 2002, after its profits increased 3.1% to Eur393 million ($421.7 million) and its sales remained level at Eur3.1 billion.
The German company’s European market provided a 3.1% increase in sales to Eur1.7 billion, yet dollar-dominated regions experienced a severe downturn. In
The firm’s Oleochemicals division was particularly affected and suffered a 2.7% drop in sales to 1 billion, yet still constituted the company’s largest share of sales. Its Care Chemicals division sustained growth of 1.9% to Eur554.2 million and the Nutrition and Health operation achieved the greatest growth of 5.2% to Eur276.1 million.
The group’s Functional Products and Process Chemicals divisions both suffered slight declines in sales, of 0.9% to Eur683.8 million and 2.4% to Eur496.6 million respectively.
Joachim Söhngen, Cognis’ chief financial officer said: “We are pleased with the annual result for 2002. Our result has improved in spite of the slight slowdown in total sales. Increased profitability shows that the restructuring of our operational units is putting us in an even better position to fulfil the demands of the market.”
