MUTTENZ, Switzerland – Specialty chemicals company Clariant reported first-quarter 2013 sales from continuing operations of CHF 1.526 billion compared to CHF 1.513 billion in the previous-year period, an increase of 2 percent in local currencies and 1 percent in Swiss francs. Organic growth of 2 percent was primarily the result of higher volumes. A negative currency effect of 1 percent was mainly attributable to the double-digit percentage depreciation of the Brazilian real and the Japanese yen against the Swiss franc compared to the same period one year ago.
The business environment remained basically unchanged compared to the final quarter of 2012. As in the previous quarter, sales trends were therefore not uniform across regions and businesses. At the regional level, Latin America exhibited the highest growth with a 10 percent increase in local currency sales. Year-on-year, sales in Asia-Pacific and EMEA were unchanged, with the latter posting 2 percent growth in Europe and a 10 percent sales decline in Middle East & Africa. Sales in North America grew 5 percent.