Braskem records profits of R$ 68 million in first semester

EBITDA in period totals R$ 653 million

07-Aug-2006

The Brazilian market for polyethylene, polypropylene and PVC thermoplastic resins experienced a growth of more than 14% compared to the same period in 2005. According to Braskem, this is proof of the more vigorous growth of the Brazilian economy and the resumption of the historical consumption elasticity of these resins in relation to GDP. In this context, Braskem presented a 6% increase in net revenues this semester when expressed in dollars, totaling US$ 2.5 billion - or R$ 5.6 billion.

With this result, Braskem maintained the leadership in the regional market in all of its strategic operation segments. This performance demonstrates Braskem was correct in acquiring Politeno, announced in the beginning of April and approved unanimously and without restrictions in July by the Administrative Council of Economic Defense - CADE, which reaffirmed that the relevant market for the petrochemical sector has a global scope. The acquisition represented an immediate 360 thousand t/year increase in Braskem's polyethylene productive capacity.

Despite this growth in revenue, Braskem's results were affected by the exchange rate and the increase in international prices of oil and energy, which represented an additional US$ 204 million in costs to the company in the first semester. The impact affected the company's EBITDA performance, which reached the sum of R$ 653 million in the semester and R$ 253 million in the second quarter.

By the end of June, the Braskem + program had provided improvements in productivity and competitiveness worth R$ 297 million, in annualized and recurrent bases, making it possible for Braskem to partially compensate for the effects of a challenging scenario. The acceleration of this project should make it possible to capture R$ 420 million in projected earnings for the entire program by the end of this year, thus anticipating its conclusion by almost one year. Furthermore, the new integrated management system that will be put into operation next October as part of the Fórmula Braskem project, will create new opportunities for gains in efficiency, which should have full impact on the company's results starting in 2007.

https://www.chemeurope.com/en/news/56875/braskem-records-profits-of-r-68-million-in-first-semester.html