AkzoNobel full year results boosted by business in Asia

AkzoNobel has released its preliminary, unaudited, financial results for full-year 2017.

The internal separation of the Specialty Chemicals business is complete.

A full separation of Specialty Chemicals, either via a private sale or a legal demerger, remains on track for April 2018.

As a result, the Specialty Chemicals business will be reported as discontinued operations.

Revenue, including discontinued operations, for full-year 2017 is expected to be up 3% (up 4% excluding currency impact) at around €14,575M (2016: €14,197M)

Positive developments continued for Decorative Paints, particularly in Asia, while challenging conditions in the marine and oil and gas industries impacted Performance Coatings.

Some industry specific headwinds persisted, including higher raw material costs, and adverse effects from foreign currency increased further.

Continuous improvement and cost discipline contributed positively to achieving the results.

Specialty Chemicals delivered a strong performance throughout 2017, including during the fourth quarter.

The transformation of AkzoNobel into a focused Paints and Coatings company, including the separation of Specialty Chemicals, is progressing well and the associated one-off costs are within expectations.

Phase one of creating a fit for purpose Paints and Coatings organisation, announced in October 2017, is on track to achieve €110M savings in 2018.

AkzoNobel will publish a report for the full-year and the fourth quarter 2017 on March 8, 2018.

This is later than previous years due to the financial reporting process relating to the separation of Specialty Chemicals.