there was a rise of 29% in thesafety and protection sector. Theseasonal loss in the agricultureand nutrition sector was reducedby $49 M to $134 M. In coatingsand colour technologies,earnings were down 13% with a51% drop for performancematerials. DuPont hastransferred its stake in DuPontDow Elastomers to DowChemical. One of the areaswhere DuPont is planninggrowth is Bio-Based Materials. In2Q 2006, a joint venture withTate and Lyle is due to beginproduction of bio-1,3 propanediolwhich is used by DuPont in themanufacture of Sonora fibre.

Asian Chemical News, 31 Oct 2005, 12(512), (Website:http://www.asianchemicalnews.com)

DuPont launches streamlining plan

DuPont is implementingproductivity and cost-improvementmeasures that it says will producesavings of $2 bn. Broad-basedjob cutting is not needed. A studyhas found that the company’shuman resources staffing is 20%greater than that of other bigcompanies, and its informationtechnology cost per user is 30%higher. The productivity includes a$1.1 bn, 13-year contract underwhich customer service companyConvergys will provide humanresources services to DuPont.Some 4000 of DuPont’s 60,000employees worldwide could beredeployed under the plan.DuPont will accelerate itsinvestment in high-tech fields,such as biobased andphotovoltaic materials, and limitspending in commodity polymersand coatings. DuPont is lifting itsbiobased materials business tothe status of a technologyplatform. The company’s mostobvious move into biomaterials isthe glucose-based polyesterintermediate propanediol. A plantfor this is due onstream in 1H2006. But the company has itseye on a range of opportunities

that could generate sales of over$3 bn/y by 2012. These includethree biofuel projects with acombined sales potential of over$1 bn/y.

Chemical and Engineering News, 14 Nov2005, 83 (46), 13 (Website: http://www.cen-online.org)

DuPont reports 3Q 2005 earnings

DuPont reported results for 3Qand nine months ended Sep2005. Consolidated net sales for3Q 2005 were $5.9 bn, up 2%versus 3Q 2004. Net income for3Q 2005 was a loss of $82 M(net income of $331 M in 3Q2004). The segment sales were$6.2 bn for 3Q 2005. Segmentpretax operating income (PTOI)for 3Q 2005 was $545 M ($438M in 3Q 2004). In Agriculture andNutrition: PTOI increased $49 Mwith a seasonal loss of $134 Mfor 3Q 2005 ($183 M loss in 3Q2004) and sales were $1 bn. InCoatings and Color Technologies:PTOI was $42 M and segmentsales were $1.5 bn for 3Q 2005.In Performance Materials: PTOIwas $68 M and sales were $1.5bn for 3Q 2005. Research anddevelopment expenses were $324M during 3Q 2005 and $976 Mduring nine months of 2005 ($308M in 3Q 2004 and $978 M innine months of 2004). DuPont isa science company. DuPont offersa wide range of innovativeproducts and services for marketsincluding agriculture, nutrition,electronics, communications,safety and protection, home andconstruction, transportation andprotective apparel. The followingtables are included:earnings/share (EPS) analysis;analysis of segment sales – byplatform; analysis of segmentsales – by region; pretaxoperating income; consolidatedincome statement; earnings/sharecalculated on the basis of theaverage number of commonshares outstanding; significantitems; significant items bysegment; consolidated segment

information; selected incomestatement data; reconciliation ofEBIT/EBITDA to consolidatedincome statement; reconciliationof segment PTOI; reconciliation ofEPS; reconciliation of segmentPTOI as percent of segmentsales; and reconciliation of baseincome tax rate to effectiveincome tax rate.

DuPont 3Q and nine months of 2005 results,25 Oct 2005, (DuPont, DuPont Building,1007, Market Street, Wilmington, DE 19898,USA. Website: http://www.dupont.com)

Asian Paints 2Q 2005-2006 netprofit up 27.7%

Asian Paints Ltd has posted a27.7% higher net profit at Rup699.1 M on sales of Rup 6.0247bn for 2Q 2005-2006 (net profit ofRup 4926.7 M on sales of Rup5.179 bn in 2Q 2004-2005). Theboard of the company hasrecommended an interim dividendof Rup 4.50/share. The improvedperformance is attributed to thehigher demand for decorative andindustrial paints in India and WestAsia. Decorative paints are thelargest contributor to AsianPaints’ revenue. In industrialpaints segment, the company hasrecorded strong growth inprotective, powder and automotivecoatings.

Business Line, 27 Oct 2005, 12 (297), 15

Cytec Industries creates newdivision

Cytec has merged its twospeciality chemical divisions CytecSurface Specialties and CytecPerformance Specialties. The newunit will be called Cytec SpecialtyChemicals. The two divisions hadsales of $1.6 bn and $650 Mrespectively. Cytec SpecialtyChemicals will operate fromheadquarters in Belgium. Its threebusiness units will be radcure andpowder resins, liquid coatingresins and performancechemicals. Cytec says the movewas prompted by weak economic

6 NOVEMBER 2005

F O C U S O N P O W D E R C O A T I N G S