Akzo Nobel 1Q Net Profit Rises; Cautions on Higher Costs, Forex

By Ian Walker

Akzo Nobel NV (AKZA.AE) said Tuesday that first-quarter net profit rose 5.4%, but warned that it expects higher raw-material costs and foreign currencies to continue impacting the business this year.

Net profit for the quarter ended March 31 year was 253 million euros ($309 million) compared with EUR240 million a year earlier, the Dutch paint company said. This compares with consensus forecast of EUR195.0 million taken from the company's website and based on five analysts forecasts.

Revenue fell to EUR2.18 billion from EUR2.38 billion in the first quarter of 2018, the company said blaming adverse foreign currencies. This compares with consensus guidance of EUR2.32 billion taken from the company's website and based on eight analysts forecasts.

"We are ramping up our pricing initiatives and have implemented various cost discipline measures to deal with higher raw-material prices," Chief Executive Thierry Vanlancker said.

Late last month Akzo Nobel agreed the sale of its specialty-chemicals unit to U.S. private equity company Carlyle Group LP (CG) for an enterprise value of EUR10.1 billion, and said it would distribute the vast majority of proceeds of the sale to shareholders.

After Akzo Nobel fended off a multibillion-dollar takeover bid from U.S. rival PPG Industries Inc.(PPG) last year, the company said it would separate from its specialty-chemicals segment, either through a private sale or a demerger, in order to focus on its paints-and-coatings business.

Write to Ian Walker at [e-mail]; @IanWalk40289749

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 24, 2018 01:42 ET (05:42 GMT)

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