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

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quarterly report

Luxembourg (euro adhoc) - First quarter highlights: * Net sales were
EUR377.0 million, up 30% from the prior year period * Operating
Result was EUR57.2 million versus EUR27.2 million in the prior year
period * Net Income was EUR30.0 million versus EUR13.0 million in the
prior year period * Adjusted EBITDA was EUR65.7 million versus
EUR36.7 million in the prior year period

Oxea Sarl, a leading global supplier of Oxo Intermediates and Oxo
Derivatives, today announced first quarter net sales of EUR377.0
million, a 30% increase compared with the corresponding period the
prior year. Oxea´s continued strong performance in the first quarter
of 2011 further underlines the robustness of the business model.
Continued recovery in the US and European regions coupled with strong
demand from Asia again contributed to another set of excellent
results. The operating result more than doubled to EUR57.2 million
compared with EUR27.2 million in the corresponding period of the
prior year and operating margins increased to 15.2% compared with
9.4% in the prior year period. EBITDA margins increased substantially
to 17%. Q1 2011 Adjusted EBITDA at EUR65.7 million 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 1.9x EBITDA on
an LTM basis.

Three months ended
In EUR million March 31,
Unaudited 2011 2010
---------------------------------------
Net Sales 377.0 289.3
Gross Profit 68.1 34.0
SG&A (10.3) (7.6)
R&D (1.5) (1.5)
Other operating
income/(expense) 0.9 2.3
Operating Result 57.2 27.2
Net Income 30.0 13.0

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Adjusted EBITDA 65.7 36.7

Sales Sales for the three months ended March 31, 2011 were EUR377.0
million, a 30% increase compared with the corresponding period of the
prior year. The increase was driven by an increase of 5% 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 11%
higher than in the prior year period. Volumes in the Intermediates
segment were some 3% higher than in the prior year period. EUR 200.0
million of our revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2011,
resulted from sales in Europe, EUR107.4 million in NAFTA and EUR69.6
million in the rest of the world compared to EUR143.7 million,
EUR80.0 million and EUR65.6 million respectively in the prior year
period.

Gross profit Gross profit for the three months ended March 31, 2011
doubled to EUR68.1 million compared with EUR34.0 million in the
corresponding period of the prior year. The increase of EUR34.1
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 18.1% of sales compared with 11.8% in the
corresponding period of the prior year.

Selling general & administration expense (SG&A) SG&A expense for the
three months ended March 31, 2011 increased to EUR10.3 million
compared with EUR7.6 million in the corresponding period of the prior
year. The increase is primarily attributable to 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 March 31, 2011 amounted to EUR0.9 million compared
with EUR2.3 million in the corresponding period of the prior year.
The decrease is primarily attributable to net foreign exchange losses
compared with net foreign exchange gains in the corresponding period
of the prior year.

Operating result Operating result for the three months ended March
31, 2011 was EUR57.2 million compared with EUR27.2 million in the
corresponding period of the prior year period as a result of
increased volumes and improved operating margins partly offset by
higher SG&A expense other lower other operating income.

Net Income Net income for the three months ended March 31, 2011 was
EUR30.0 million compared with EUR13.0 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 partly offset by higher interest expense arising from the
refinancing in July 2010 and higher income taxes.

Adjusted EBITDA EBITDA margins increased to 17%. Adjusted EBITDA was
some EUR65.7 million compared with EUR36.7 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 the first quarter of 2011 Oxea generated EUR20.0 million in cash
from operating activities compared with a utilization of EUR8.6
million in the corresponding period of the prior year as a result of
increased earnings and improved working capital which were partly
offset by higher cash taxes. Cash used in investing activities was
EUR5.6 million compared with EUR4.0 million in the corresponding
period of the prior year driven by an increased capital expenditure.
Cash used in financing activities was EUR23.9 million compared with
EUR2.2 million in the corresponding period of the prior year as a
result of the semi annual payment of interest on the Senior Secured
Notes issued in July 2010.

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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company: Oxea GmbH
Otto-Roelen-Straße 3
D-46147 Oberhausen
phone: +49(0)208 693 3112
FAX: +49(0)208 693 3101
mail: birgit.reichel@oxea-chemicals.com
WWW: http://www.oxea-chemicals.com
sector: Chemicals
ISIN: XS0523636594
indexes:
stockmarkets: Open Market: Frankfurt
language: English

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