EBITDA stood at EUR 266 million, at the same level as the third quarter of 2011. The performance of Industrial Chemicals remained very solid, at the same level as last year, while Performance Products again delivered good results with record EBITDA for a third quarter of EUR 107 million.

Net income, group share, for continuing operations reached EUR 123 million. Net income, group share, for the discontinued operations stood at negative EUR 7 million, corresponding primarily to post- closing adjustments related to the divestment of the Vinyl business in the beginning of July. Consequently, net income, group share, stood at EUR 116 million, 7.2 percent of sales and 6 percent up over the third quarter of 2011.

Sales in the Performance Products segment rose to EUR 548 million, up 5.6 percent over the third quarter of 2011. Industrial Chemicals sales reached EUR 1,053 million against EUR 1,063 million in third quarter of 2011. Volumes overall were stable compared to last year despite a slowdown in some markets, in particular automotive in Europe, and weak volumes in decorative paints. Industrial Specialties made a strong contribution with EUR 98 million EBITDA and a very high EBITDA margin of 20 percent. All business units in this segment achieved strong performances thanks to the solid performance of the North American activities (PMMA for the automotive market, fluorogases for refrigeration, thiochemicals for animal feed, hydrogen peroxide, etc.) and despite the expected sharp decline in HFC-125 margins in China. Coating Solutions also reported a good performance with EUR 78 million EBITDA and 14 percent EBITDA margin. In line with the beginning of the year, acrylic monomer margins returned to mid-cycle conditions. In coating resins, demand was weak in decorative paints, mostly in Europe. Industrial coatings (Coatex, Sartomer) reported excellent results.

The company remains confident in its ability to deliver a solid year and confirms its target to achieve an EBITDA close to EUR 1 billion in 2012.