Holland. The chemical specialist firm, AkzoNobel made public the total results of the year 2011, in which it highlighted a growth of 7%, driven by the actions they took in prices to compensate for inflation in the costs of raw materials.
However, the company acknowledged that weak end markets and cost inflation negatively impacted the previous year's results. For this reason, they are executing a performance improvement program to deliver in 2014 a total of 500 million Euros (about US$657 million) to EBITDA.
"We have launched a performance improvement program to strengthen our competitiveness, improve our growth capacity, simplify support structures and reduce our cost base. The program includes the restructuring of companies and will deliver 200 million euros (about US$263 million) of EBITDA in 2012," the statement said.
In the decorative paints segment, it showed gains of 7% with volumes of up to 5%. Prices increased by 3% and the adverse impact of currencies by 1%. High-performance coatings recorded revenues of 8%, industrials recorded the largest increase in volume, mainly due to the good performance in packaging and coil coatings. While the wood finishes and adhesives had low volume.
AkzoNobel revealed that earnings in Asia and the Americas saw double-digit growth led by rising prices and a new Walmart contract in the United States. In Europe, demand showed a reduction.
