PPG Industries Inc. said 17 January 2008 that its 4Q 2007 profit was up 27%, above Wall Street“s expectations, helped by strong sales from its coatings and specialty products businesses.
The company…
PPG Industries Inc. said 17 January 2008 that its 4Q 2007 profit was up 27%, above Wall Street“s expectations, helped by strong sales from its coatings and specialty products businesses. The company reported income of USD 200 million, or USD 1.21 per share, compared with USD 157 million, or USD 0.94 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding a charge of USD 1 million, or USD 0.01 per share, resulting from an increase in the company“s obligation under a proposed asbestos settlement agreement, the company reported adjusted income of USD 201 million, or USD 1.22 per share. Revenue was up 15% to USD 2.87 billion from USD 2.5 billion in the 4Q of 2006. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial estimated earnings of USD 1.12 per share on sales of USD 2.74 billion. Analysts typically exclude one-off unusual charges in their estimates. The company attributed the growth to several acquisitions and a focus on coatings and specialty products. Sales from the company“s performance coatings segment jumped 22%, the industrial coatings segment recorded a 10% rise in sales, while sales at its optical and specialty materials unit increased 14%. “Both coatings segments and our optical and specialty materials segment are consistently delivering profitable growth”, said Charles E. Bunch, chairman and chief executive, in a release. “They represented just under 80% of our continuing operations in both sales and earnings in 2007”. For the full year, the company reported income of USD 834 million, or USD 5.07 per share, compared with USD 711 million, or USD 4.29 per share, in 2006. Revenue for the year rose 14% to USD 11.21 billion from USD 9.86 billion.