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

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quarterly report/Q4 2010

Luxembourg (euro adhoc) - Oxea Sarl: Fourth quarter highlights:

* Net sales were EUR351.2 million, up 43% from the prior year period
* Operating Result was EUR37.6 million versus EUR24.3 million in the
prior year period * Net Income was EUR24.3 million versus EUR16.8
million in the prior year period * Adjusted EBITDA was EUR46.4
million versus EUR34.2 million in the prior year period

Oxea Sarl, a leading global supplier of Oxo Intermediates and Oxo
Derivatives, today announced fourth quarter net sales of EUR351.2
million, a 43% increase from the same period last year. Oxea´s
continued strong performance in the fourth quarter demonstrates the
robustness of the business model. Recovery in the US and European
regions coupled with continued strong demand from Asia contributed to
another set of outstanding results. Q4 2010 Adjusted EBITDA at
EUR46.4 million, and an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 13.2%, reflects an
excellent performance for Oxea and underlines the continued strong
relationships with customers and the valuable contribution of Oxea's
employees to the success of the business. After the refinancing in
July 2010, net debt has been reduced to approximately 2.1x EBITDA.

In EUR million - Unaudited
Three months ended Twelve Months ended
December 31, December 31,
2010 2009 2010 2009
Net Sales 351.2 246.2 1,365.3 888.0
Gross Profit 44.4 30.9 190.0 98.5
SG&A (11.0) (5.4) (46.9) (28.1)
R&D (1.3) (1.1) (5.5) (3.7)
Other operating
income/(expense) 5.5 (0.1) 45.6 0.1
Operating Result 37.6 24.3 183.2 66.8
Net Income 24.3 16.8 111.1 28.2

Adjusted EBITDA 46.4 34.2 179.9 105.0

Sales Sales for the three months ended December 31, 2010 were
EUR351.2 million, a 43% increase compared with the corresponding
period of the prior year. The increase was driven by an increase of
8% 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 12% higher than in the prior year period. Volumes in the
Intermediates segment were some 7% higher than in the prior year
period. EUR183.2 million of our revenues for the three months ended
December 31, 2010, resulted from sales in Europe, EUR103.3 million in
NAFTA and EUR64.7 million in the rest of the world compared to
EUR115.8 million, EUR77.8 million and EUR52.6 million respectively in
the prior year period.

Gross profit Gross profit for the three months ended December 31,
2010 increased by 44% to EUR44.4 million compared with EUR30.9
million in the corresponding period of the prior year. The increase
of EUR13.5 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.

Selling general & administration expense (SG&A) SG&A expense for the
three months ended December 31, 2010 increased to EUR11.0 million
compared with EUR5.4 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 December 31, 2010 amounted to EUR5.5 million
compared with EUR0.1 million net other operating expense in the
corresponding period of the prior year. The increase is primarily
attributable to increased income from site services, insurance
proceeds and net foreign exchange gains.

Operating result Operating result for the three months ended December
31, 2010 was EUR37.6 million compared with EUR24.3 million in the
corresponding period of the prior year period as a result of
increased volumes and improved operating margins and higher other
operating income partly offset by higher SG&A expense.

Net Income Net income for the three months ended December 31, 2010
was EUR24.3 million compared with EUR16.8 million in the
corresponding period of the prior year as a result of the improvement
in margins and higher sale volumes with a corresponding increase in
operating profit and lower income taxes due to a reduced effective
tax rate partly offset by higher interest expense arising from the
refinancing in July 2010.

Adjusted EBITDA Adjusted EBITDA was EUR46.4 million compared with
EUR34.2 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.
In 2010 Oxea generated EUR135.6 million in cash from operating
activities compared with EUR77.6 million in the prior year as a
result of increased earnings and lower cash taxes which were partly
offset by higher trade working capital. Cash provided by investing
activities was EUR50.2 million compared with an utilisation of
EUR22.3 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 EUR178.2 million compared with EUR41.0
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, cosmetics and pharmaceutical
products, flavorings and fragrances, printing inks and plastics. In
the 12 months ending December 2010, Oxea generated revenue of about
EUR1.4 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

Oxea GmbH
Otto-Roelen-Strasse 3
D-46147 Oberhausen
www.oxea-chemicals.com

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