COLONGE, Germany—Lanxess A.G. reported a 1.6 percent decrease in sales, but net income increased by 51.2 percent compared to 2015.
In its third quarter financial report released Nov. 10, Laxness' disclosed sales of $2.09 billion, compared to $2.13 billion in 2015, and net income of $67.5 million, up from $44.7 million.
“We took the momentum from the first half of the year into the third quarter and delivered renewed proof of the operational strength of new Lanxess,” CEO Matthais Zachert said in a statement.
Lanxess continued to be busy on the acquisition front in the third quarter. It closed its deal to acquire the Clean and Disinfect business of Chemours on Aug. 31 and at the end of September reached an agreement to acquire Chemtura Corp. in a deal that projects to triple the size of its additives business.
The transaction still needs to be approved by Chemtura's shareholders and the relevant antitrust authorities and is subject to the standard conditions applying to such transactions. Lanxess said closing is expected sometime in mid-2017.
Despite the big acquisition, Lanxess said its net financial liabilities remain low at $221.1 million.
Sales volumes increased across all three of Lanxess business segments. In Advanced Intermediates, sales decreased slightly, by 1.1 percent to $479.2 million. High Performance Materials also experienced a slight decrease in sales, by 2.3 percent to $279.9 million. Performance Chemicals, however, reported a 3.2 percent sales increase to $589.3 million thanks to the integration of the Chemours business.
Arlanxeo A.G., the firm's 50-50 joint venture with Saudi Aramco comprising of Lanxess' synthetic rubber business units, reported a 5.3 percent decrease in sales to $735.2 million. Good demand from the automotive segment in Asia was offset by price declines resulting from raw material costs.
Lanxess consists of 16,700 employees and 54 production sites in 29 countries, reporting about $8.61 billion in sales for 2015.