ICI posts 12% profits hike
Dulux paint company ICI maintained a positive view on its business today after price rises helped it recover higher raw material costs.
Shares in the chemicals and paints group rose by 5% as the company posted a 12% rise in half-year profits to £207m (€298m) and said it was hopeful of satisfactory progress this year.
It also reported signs of an improvement in trading conditions towards the end of the second quarter, but added European markets remained “generally subdued”.
The company, which employs more than 35,000 people worldwide, cut around 1,400 jobs in 2003 as part of a drive for cost savings worth £70m (€102.9m). ICI Dulux Paints Ireland employs about 150 people.
Chief executive John McAdam said: “ICI maintained its positive start to 2005 with a solid second quarter.”
Comparable group sales for the three months to the end of June were 6% above a year earlier, with price rises accounting for 4% of the 6% improvement in sales from its main international businesses division, which features ICI paints and the company’s National Starch operation.
Sales growth in the Dulux-based paints division was strongest at 8% in the quarter, helped by double-digit growth in Asia and Latin America.
Overall profits at the paints division were £74m (€106.6m), up 5% on a comparable basis following sales of £613m (€883.4m).
ICI has been working to bounce back from a series of disappointments in the past two years after tough economic conditions and problems a key divisions affected its performance.
The company, which employs more than 35,000 people worldwide, cut around 1,400 jobs in 2003 as part of a drive for cost savings worth £70m (€100.9m).
