Akzo Nobel paints go East

Announcing a second quarter revenue increase of 13 per cent today (23 July) AkzoNobel said strong revenue gains were achieved in the higher growth markets in all its business areas with increases in the decorative paints division mainly due to the company's strong footprint in these markets, where the business was growing faster than the market itself. CEO Hans Wijers (pictured) said the results were evidencing that the company was benefiting from the recovery and its own on-going restructuring and was emerging from the global economic crisis in better shape. With the integration of its acquisition of ICI complete Akzo Nobel could now concentrate fully on accelerating growth and building a presence in key strategic markets. Wijers went on: "The importance of these markets, which will continue to have a major influence on our global activities and strategic agenda, was highlighted by our Q2 performance, particularly at Decorative Paints, where revenue increased 38 per cent in Asia compared with 2009 as we invest in brands and distribution. In addition, it was another strong quarter for our Performance Coatings business, with Asia again featuring prominently. The 15 per cent volume increase at Specialty Chemicals also owed much to these higher growth regions. "The developed markets remain challenging. Raw material price pressure and shortages are expected to continue into the third quarter. We will keep a careful eye on the trading environment and costs will continue to be managed aggressively." During the quarter AkzoNobel announced the US$1.3bn sale of National Starch, completing the divestments of non-core former ICI businesses, a US$3 billion revenue target for China by 2015, and the completion of the acquisition of the powder coatings activities of the Dow Chemical Company. While it was a good quarter, AkzoNobel said it remained vigilant about the pace and sustainable nature of the economic recovery but was cautiously optimistic about the prospects for the remainder of the year.