By Christopher Hinton
NEW YORK (Dow Jones) -- Rohm & Haas Co. said Monday its
fourth-quarter earnings plunged more than 80% as demand for its
specialty materials for the construction, electronics and consumer
product markets foundered.
For the recent quarter, the Philadelphia chemical and materials
company said earnings fell to $32 million, or 17 cents a share,
from $180 million, or 91 cents a share, in the year-ago period.
On an adjusted basis, the company said it earned 69 cents a
share, while analysts polled by FactSet Research expected 66 cents
a share, on average.
A maker of adhesives, coatings, printed circuit boards and other
products, Rohm & Haas said sales fell 13% to $2 billion from
$2.3 billion, driven by accelerating market declines across all its
business units save salt.
Shares of Rohm & Haas closed Friday at $56.50. The stock is
up about 5% for the year as the company is the target of a Dow
Chemical Co. acquisition, though the timing of the deal is now in
question following the collapse of a Dow-Petrochemical Industries
Co. joint venture and turmoil in the financial markets. .
That same turmoil has also caused a sharp contraction in the
global economy, leading to a significant slump in manufacturing and
construction, and resulting in the layoffs of millions on North
American workers.
Rohm & Haas said specialty materials group, its largest
chemical business, saw its net sales fall 17% to $974 million due
to decreased demand and a negative foreign currency exchange rate.
Adjusted pre-tax earnings plummeted 68% to $31 million.
"The impact of softer demand, higher raw material and energy
costs, and the negative operating impact of volume shortfalls were
partially offset by prior pricing actions," the company said in a
statement.