DSM says 'profits restored' in elastomers unit

Geleen, The Netherlands - DSM said its 2005 results were strong, but that volumes in the elastomers business declined, following the closure of two EPDM plants. In its annual statement for financial year 2005, DSM said, "our measures to streamline business

processes and the successful restructuring at DSM Elastomers made a clear contribution to the strong performance of [DSM's Performance Materials] cluster.

For the 12 months of 2005, DSM Performance Materials reported sales of Euro 2459 million compared with Euro 2013 million in 2004. Operating profit increased to Euro 305 million, from Euro 165 million a year ago.

The company said, "The operating profit of the cluster increased due to an improvement in prices, enabled by good demand for DSM's products, and an improvement in margins despite the generally high and volatile raw material prices."