AkzoNobel to discuss chemicals split
- October 20, 2017
- Posted by: Alan Feldberg
- Category: Industry News
AkzoNobel will hold an Emergency General Meeting on 30 November to discuss the approval of the separation of its speciality chemicals business, either through a sale or a legal demerger.
It reports that volumes are up two per cent driven by decorative pains and performance coatings, with revenues up one per cent.
CEO Thierry Vanlancker said, ‘We have continued to grow our business with higher volumes and increased revenues despite challenging market conditions in selected areas of our business, especially in Marine and Protective Coatings.
‘We have also initiated phase one of our transformation plan to create a fit for purpose Paints and Coatings organization which will deliver €110 million annual savings in 2018 contributing towards our 2020 financial guidance. EBIT for 2017 is now expected to be in line with 2016, due to adverse foreign exchange, ongoing industry specific headwinds and supply chain disruptions, including the adverse impact of Hurricane Harvey in the US.
‘There continues to be significant interest in our Specialty Chemicals business and we look forward to the separation process officially kicking off in the coming weeks. We have announced several capacity expansions to accelerate growth for the business, including a €20 million investment to increase production at Sundsvall, Sweden for our Expancel expandable microspheres.’
