EANS-News: Oxea GmbH / Oxea reports increased revenues and earnings in Q4

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quarterly report

Luxembourg (euro adhoc) - Highlights Q4 2012: * Net sales were EUR343
million versus EUR328 million in the prior year period (+4%) * Gross
profit was EUR47 million versus EUR34 million in the prior year
period (+38%) * Operating profit was EUR43 million versus EUR32
million in the prior year period (+34%) * Net income was EUR14
million versus EUR9 million in the prior year period (+56%) * EBITDA
was EUR50 million versus EUR38 million in the prior year period
(+32%) * Adjusted EBITDA was EUR44 million versus EUR35 million in
the prior year period (+26%)

Oxea, a leading global supplier of Oxo Intermediates and Oxo
Derivatives, today announced for the fourth quarter of 2012 a strong
earnings increase compared with the fourth quarter of 2011. The
increase in revenues and earnings can be recognized across the entire
product portfolio and all regions. On a full year basis, revenues of
EUR1,459 million were only slightly below the previous year (-1.4%)
despite a still soft world economy and overall challenging
macroeconomic conditions during 2012. EBITDA of EUR193 million was
5.4% below prior year mainly due to a very strong first quarter of
2011 with high export margins and one-off gains from steep raw
material price increases over the average cost value carried in
inventories. In 2012, Oxea again generated strong free cash flows,
mainly due to a further significant improvement of Trade Working
Capital. Cash provided by operating activities of EUR144 million was
used to execute the outstanding two redemption options on the Senior
Secured Notes of EUR47 million and to fund the record investment
level of EUR96 million. The investments were largely driven by the
implementation of the strategic growth projects, leading to a further
shift within the product portfolio towards high margin downstream
derivatives. The second production facility for specialty esters in
Oberhausen was mechanically completed at the end of October and
started operations in November 2012. The third production unit for
carboxylic acids in Oberhausen is currently being finalized and is
expected to be completed in April 2013. Both investments will render
a significant contribution to Oxea's earnings in the near future.

| | Three months ended | Twelve months ended|
| | December 31 |December 31 |
|In EUR million - Unaudited |2012 |2011 |2012 |2011 |
|Net sales |342.9 |328.4 |1,458.9 | 1,479.3 |
|Gross profit |47.1 |33.8 |188.4 |205.4 |
|SG&A |(8.9) |(10.0) |(37.3) |(37.6) |
|R&D |(1.8) |(1.8) |(6.9) |(6.4) |
|Other operating |6.9 |9.7 |23.7 |18.2 |
|income/expense | | | | |
|Operating profit |43.2 |31.7 |168.0 |179.5 |
|Net income |14.4 |8.7 |69.8 |77.0 |
|EBITDA |49.6 |38.3 |193.1 |204.2 |
|Adjusted EBITDA |43.7 |35.5 |180.0 |206.2 |

Net sales

Net sales for the three months ended December, 2012 were EUR342.9
million, an increase of 4.4% compared with the corresponding period
of the prior year. Overall, volumes were 2.6% higher compared with Q4
2011. Oxo Intermediates volumes were up by 1.7% and Oxo Derivatives
volumes traded 5.9% higher. Of our revenues for the three months
ended December 31, 2012, EUR158 million resulted from sales in
Europe, EUR115 million in North America, and EUR69million in the rest
of the world compared to EUR141 million, EUR109 million, and
EUR78million, respectively, in the prior year period.

Gross profit Gross profit for the three months ended December 31,
2012 amounted to EUR47.1million compared with EUR33.8 million in Q4
2011, mainly due to higher sales and improved margins.

Selling, general & administration expense (SG&A) SG&A expense for the
three months ended December 31, 2012 amounted to EUR8.9million
compared with EUR10.0 million in the corresponding period of the
prior year, mainly due to lower consulting fees.

Other operating income/(expense) Net other operating income for the
three months ended December 31, 2012 amounted to EUR6.9 million
compared with a net other operating income of EUR9.7 million in the
corresponding period of the prior year. The decrease is primarily
attributable to lower insurance income.

Operating profit Operating profit for the three months ended December
31, 2012 was EUR43.2 million compared with EUR31.7 million in the
corresponding prior year period, primarily as a result of higher
gross profit and lower SG&A expense as explained above.

Financial result Net financial expense was EUR14.2 million compared
with EUR15.0 million in Q4 2011 mainly due to the bond redemptions
executed in 2012.

Net income Net income was EUR14.4 million compared with EUR8.7
million in the corresponding period of the prior year due to a higher
operating profit and lower net financial expense.

EBITDA EBITDA at EUR49.6 million compared with EUR38.3 million in the
corresponding period of the prior year was mainly driven by a higher
gross profit partly compensated by lower other income. The latter has
been partly normalized leading to an Adjusted EBITDA of EUR43.7m in
Q4 2012.

Cash flow As mentioned above, the company continued to generate
positive free cash flow. During 2012, Oxea generated EUR144.0 million
in cash from operating activities compared with EUR193.3 million in
the corresponding period of the prior year, which included a one-off
item of EUR53.2 million from the initial sale of receivables under
the ABS program. Cash used in investing activities was EUR95.8
million compared with EUR36.2 million in the corresponding period of
the prior year due to higher spending for growth projects.

Cash used in financing activities was EUR145.0 million compared to
EUR130.7 million in the corresponding period of the prior year. This
included the optional bond redemption of EUR47.1 million (2011:
EUR26.7 million) and a payment to shareholders in the amount of
EUR50.0 million (2011: EUR55.0 million).

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, flavourings and fragrances, printing inks and plastics. In
2012, Oxea generated revenue of about EUR1.5 billion with its 1,406
employees in Europe, the Americas and Asia.

Please note:

This press release 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
press release 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 press release and related presentations (including on our
website) 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.

EBITDA is defined as net income for the year before financial result,
income taxes, depreciation and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA is
defined as EBITDA adjusted to remove the effects of certain non-cash
and non-recurring expenses and charges. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA
are supplemental measures of our performance and liquidity that are
not required by or presented in accordance with IFRS. EBITDA and
Adjusted EBITDA are not measurements 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 and Adjusted EBITDA facilitate
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 and Adjusted
EBITDA because we believe it these are frequently used by securities
analysts, investors and other interested parties in the evaluation of
similar issuers, the majority of which present EBITDA and Adjusted
EBITDA when reporting their results. Finally, we present EBITDA and
Adjusted EBITDA as measures of our ability to service our debt.

Further inquiry note:
Bernhard Spetsmann
Managing Director (Finance, IT)
bernhard.spetsmann@oxea-chemicals.com

Birgit Reichel
Communications/PR
birgit.reichel@oxea-chemicals.com

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