Specialty materials company
Celanese Corporation
(
CE
) announced that it will raise prices for acrylic emulsions sold
in the Americas. Celanese will increase pure acrylic and styrene
acrylic emulsions prices by up to 8 cents per wet pound and vinyl
acrylic emulsions by up to 3 cents per wet pound. The revision is
effective from Feb 18, 2013, or as contracts permit.
This price hike is expected to impact all applications including
adhesives, paint and coatings, building and construction,
nonwovens, glass fiber, carpet, paper and textiles.
Celanese's fourth-quarter 2012 results, released on Jan 28, were
mixed as adjusted earnings exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate
while sales missed the same. The company's adjusted earnings
(excluding one-time items) of 67 cents per share exceeded the
Zacks Consensus Estimate of 63 cents and the year-ago earnings of
58 cents per share.
Earnings (as reported) from continuing operation were 60 cents
a share in the quarter compared with 61 cents recorded a year
ago. The company's cost reduction measures aided earnings as well
as operating margin expansion in the quarter.
Sales for the quarter were $1,501 million, down 7% year over
year, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1,534 million. The
decline was due to lower volumes in the company's acetyl
intermediates segment and the Acetate footprint rationalization
in its Consumer Specialties segment. Lower pricing also hurt
sales.
Celanese expects the challenging economic conditions to
persist in 2013. For 2013, it expects earnings growth on the back
of company-specific initiatives and to be consistent with its
long-term growth objective of 12% to 14%. The company remains
focused on enhancing the competitiveness of its products through
technological innovations.
Celanese retains a short-term (1 to 3 months) Zacks Rank #3
(Hold). Other companies in the chemical industry worth
considering are
Arkema S.A.
(
ARKAY
),
BASF SE
(
BASFY
) and
Air Products & Chemicals Inc.
(
APD
). While Arkema and BASF both carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong
Buy), Air Products holds a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
AIR PRODS & CHE (APD): Free Stock Analysis
Report
(ARKAY): ETF Research Reports
BASF SE (BASFY): Free Stock Analysis Report
CELANESE CP-A (CE): Free Stock Analysis
Report
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