EANS-News: Oxea GmbH / Oxea Sarl reports strong third quarter results

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quarterly report/Q3 2010

Luxembourg (euro adhoc) - Third quarter highlights:

>> Net sales were EUR367.2 million, up 52% from the prior year period
>> Operating Result was EUR77.6 million versus EUR20.7 million in the
prior year period >> Net Income was EUR50.4 million versus EUR5.0
million in the prior year period >> Adjusted EBITDA was EUR46.5
million versus EUR29.0 million in the prior year period

Oxea Sarl, a leading global supplier of Oxo Intermediates and Oxo
Derivatives, today announced third quarter net sales of EUR367.2
million, a 52% increase from the same period last year. Oxea's strong
performance in the third quarter demonstrates the robustness of the
business model. Recovery in the US and European regions coupled with
continued strong demand from Asia contributed to the excellent
results. Q3 2010 Adjusted EBITDA at EUR46.5 million, and an Adjusted
EBITDA margin of 12.7%, reflects an excellent performance for Oxea
and underlines the strong relationships with customers and the
valuable contribution of Oxea's employees to the success of the
business. After the recent refinancing, net debt is around 2.9x
EBITDA as a result of the current trading.

In EUR million - Unaudited

Three months ended Nine Months ended
September 30, September 30,
2010 2009 2010 2009
Net Sales 367.2 240.9 1,014.1 641.8
Gross Profit 56.7 28.2 145.5 67.6
SG&A (13.9) (8.2) (35.9) (22.8)
R&D (1.3) (2.1) (4.2) (6.1)
Other operating
income/(expense) 36.1 2.8 40.1 3.8
Operating Result 77.6 20.7 145.6 42.5
Net Income 50.4 5.0 86.8 11.4

Adjusted EBITDA 46.5 29.0 133.5 70.8

Sales

Sales for the three months ended September 30, 2010 were EUR367.2
million, a 52% increase compared with the corresponding period of the
prior year. The increase was driven by an increase of 14% in total
volumes, improved product mix and the pass through of higher raw
material costs to customers. The volume increase was particularly
strong in our Oxo Derivatives segment, where volumes were some 29%
higher than in the prior year period. Volumes in the Intermediates
segment were some 11% higher than in the prior year period. EUR181.5
million of our revenues for the three months ended September 30,
2010, resulted from sales in Europe, EUR113.2 million in NAFTA and
EUR72.5 million in the rest of the world compared to EUR122.9
million, EUR75.9 million and EUR42.1 million respectively in the
prior year period.

Gross profit Gross profit for the three months ended September 30,
2010 increased by 101% to EUR56.7 million compared with EUR28.2
million in the corresponding period of the prior year. The increase
of EUR28.5 million was attributable to higher volumes in both Oxo
Intermediates and Derivatives segments and improved margins which
more than offset the increase in raw materials and manufacturing
fixed costs such that gross profit increased to 15.4% of sales
compared with 11.7% in the corresponding period of the prior year.

Selling general & administration expense (SG&A) SG&A expense for the
three months ended September 30, 2010 increased to EUR13.9 million
compared with EUR8.2 million in the corresponding period of the prior
year. The increase is primarily attributable to higher consulting
fees in relation to projects, increased selling costs associated with
higher volumes, and higher personnel costs including salary increases
and accruals for employee bonuses.

Other operating income/(expense) Net other operating income for the
three months ended September 30, 2010 amounted to EUR36.1 million
compared with EUR2.8 million in the corresponding period of the prior
year. The increase is primarily attributable to gains on the
divestiture of the syngas and LDPE units in Oberhausen and the sale
of shares in one group entity. The net gain from these transactions
amounted to EUR39.7 million and is partly offset by lower income from
site services.

Operating result Operating result for the three months ended
September 30, 2010 was EUR77.6 million compared with EUR20.7 million
in the corresponding period of the prior year period as a result of
increased volumes and improved operating margins and net gains of
some EUR39.7 million on divestitures partly offset by increased
operating costs.

Net Income Net income was EUR50.4 million compared with EUR5.0
million in the corresponding period of the prior year as a result of
the improvement in margins and higher sale volumes, net gains on
divestitures with a corresponding increase in operating profit offset
by higher interest expense arising from the recent refinancing and
higher income taxes.

Adjusted EBITDA Adjusted EBITDA was some EUR46.5 million compared
with EUR29.0 million in the corresponding period of the prior year
driven by the improved volumes and improved operating margins.

Cash Flow The company continued to generate positive free cash flow
and during the first nine months of 2010 Oxea generated EUR44.8
million in cash from operating activities compared with EUR46.5
million in the corresponding period of the prior year. The increased
earnings were offset by higher trade working capital due to higher
trading activity, higher inventory costs and the maintenance
turnaround in Bay City. Cash provided by investing activities was
EUR57.4 million compared with a utilisation of EUR12.2 million in the
corresponding period of the prior year driven by proceeds from
divestitures in the amount of EUR79.0 million partly offset by an
increased level of capital expenditure. Cash used in financing
activities was EUR175.8 million compared with EUR28.8 million in the
corresponding period of the prior year whereby proceeds of some
EUR505.7 million from the recent bond issue were used to repay
existing bank debt and shareholder loans.

Oxea is a global manufacturer of Oxo intermediates and derivatives
such as alcohols, polyols, carboxylic acids, specialty esters and
amines. These products are sold in the merchant market (where sales
are to third party customers) and used for the production of
high-quality coatings, lubricants, cosmetic and pharmaceutical
products, flavorings and fragrances, printing inks and plastics. In
the 12 months ending September 2010, Oxea generated revenue of about
EUR1.3 billion with approximately 1,330 employees in Europe, the
Americas and Asia.

Forward looking statements * This document contains financial
information regarding the businesses and assets of OXEA S.à r.l. (the
"Company") and its consolidated subsidiaries (the "Group"). Such
financial information has not been audited, reviewed or verified by
any independent accounting firm. The inclusion of such financial
information in this document or any related presentation should not
be regarded as a representation or warranty by the Company, any of
its respective affiliates, advisors or representatives or any other
person as to the accuracy or completeness of such information´s
portrayal of the financial condition or results of operations by the
Group. * This document may contain information, data and predictions
about our markets and our competitive position. While we believe this
data to be reliable, it has not been independently verified, and we
make no representation or warranty as to the accuracy or completeness
of such information set forth in this document. Additionally,
industry publications and reports from which such information, data
or predictions may be obtained generally state that the information
contained therein has been obtained from sources believed to
be reliable but that the accuracy and completeness of such
information is not guaranteed and in some instances state that they
do not assume liability for such information. We cannot therefore
assure you of the accuracy and completeness of such information and
we have not independently verified such information. In addition, we
have made statements in this document regarding our industry and
position in the industry based on our experience and our own
investigation of market conditions. We cannot assure you that the
assumptions underlying these statements are accurate or correctly
reflect the state and development of, or our position in, the
industry, and none of our internal surveys or information has been
verified by any independent sources. * Certain statements in this
document are forward-looking. By their nature, forward-looking
statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties because
they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not
occur in the future. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of
future performance. These factors include, among others: the cyclical
and highly variable nature of our business and its sensitivity to
changes in supply and demand; adverse and uncertain global economic
conditions; the highly variable nature of raw materials costs and any
loss of key suppliers or supply shortages or disruptions; the
competitive nature of our industry; the ability to comply with
current or future laws and regulations relating to environmental,
health and safety matters as well as the safety of our products,
related costs of maintaining compliance and addressing liabilities as
well as risks relating to compliance with antitrust and tax laws; our
reliance on a limited number of suppliers for certain of our key raw
materials; operational risks, including the risk of environmental
contamination and potential product liability claims; operational
interruptions at our facilities due to events that are outside of our
control such as severe weather conditions, unscheduled downtimes,
terrorist attacks, natural disasters or other events that may
interrupt or damage our operations or the impact of scheduled outages
on our results of operations; the risk that our insurance coverage
may not be sufficient to cover all risks; risks relating to the
global nature of our operations, including, among others,
fluctuations in exchange rates; the loss of major customers or key
customers for certain of our products; the loss of key personnel;
risks relating to acquisitions and dispositions, including any
impairment risks with respect to historical acquisitions, our ability
to successfully integrate acquired businesses, and unexpected
liabilities relating to such acquisitions or contingent liabilities
in connection with such dispositions; the requirement to make further
contributions to our pension schemes; the failure to protect our
intellectual property rights; limitations on our ability to adjust
the quality of certain products that we manufacture; and potential
conflicts of interests with our principal shareholder. * These and
other factors could adversely affect the outcome and financial
effects of the plans and events described herein. Forward-looking
statements contained in this document regarding past trends or
activities should not be taken as a representation that such trends
or activities will continue in the future. New risks can emerge from
time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all such
risks, nor can we assess the impact of all such risks on our business
or the extent to which any risks, or combination of risks and other
factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those
contained in any forward-looking statements. Neither the Company nor
the Group undertakes any obligation to update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise. You should not place undue reliance on
forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this
document.

Use of non IFRS financial information: * EBITDA is defined as net
income for the year before financial result, income taxes,
depreciation and amortization. EBITDA, is a supplemental measure of
our performance and liquidity that is not required by or presented in
accordance with IFRS. EBITDA is not a measurement of our financial
performance or liquidity under IFRS and should not be considered as
an alternative to profit for the period presented, results from
operating activities or any other performance measures derived in
accordance with IFRS or as an alternative to cash flow from operating
activities as a measure of our liquidity. We believe EBITDA
facilitates operating performance comparisons from period to period
and company to company by eliminating potential differences caused by
variations in capital structures (affecting interest expense), tax
positions (such as the impact on periods or companies of change in
effective tax rates or net operating losses) and the age and book
value and amortization of tangible and intangible assets (which have
an effect on related depreciation expense). We also present EBITDA
because we believe it is frequently used by securities analysts,
investors and other interested parties in the evaluation of similar
issuers, the majority of which present EBITDA when reporting their
results. Finally, we present EBITDA as a measure of our ability to
service our debt. * Adjusted EBITDA is defined as EBITDA adjusted to
remove the effects of certain non-cash and non-recurring expenses and
charges. Adjusted EBITDA is a supplemental measure of our performance
and liquidity that is not required by or presented in accordance with
IFRS. Adjusted EBITDA is not a measurement of our financial
performance or liquidity under IFRS and should not be considered as
an alternative to profit for the period presented, results from
operating activities or any other performance measures derived in
accordance with IFRS or as an alternative to cash flow from operating
activities as a measure of our liquidity. We believe Adjusted EBITDA
facilitates operating performance comparisons from period to period
and company to company by eliminating certain non-recurring expenses
and charges. We also present Adjusted EBITDA because we believe it is
frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other
interested parties in the evaluation of similar issuers. Finally, we
present Adjusted EBITDA as a measure of our ability to service our
debt.

end of announcement euro adhoc
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ots Originaltext: Oxea GmbH
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Further inquiry note:

Neil Robertson

Managing Director (Finance, IT)

neil.robertson@oxea-chemicals.com

Birgit Reichel

Global Communications

birgit.reichel@oxea-chemicals.com

Branche: Chemicals
ISIN: XS0523636594
WKN: A1AY4T
Börsen: Frankfurt / Open Market