Cabot Q2 profits drop 89 percent on similar sales

ERJ staff report (BC)

Boston, Massachussetts – For the second quarter of fiscal 2013, carbon black manufacturer Cabot reported profit of $27m (€20.5m) on sales of $842m (€639m), as against $240m (€182m) on sales of $844m (€641m) in fiscal 2012.

CEO Patrick Prevost commented: "The global macroeconomic environment remained challenging this quarter. Our second quarter results, which included a disruption at a reinforcement materials plant in Japan, were in line with those for the first quarter of fiscal 2013. The disruption in Japan led to reduced volumes and impacted the business by $8m (€6m) pre-tax."

Cabot recently announced the closure of its Malaysian carbon black operation on 26 April. "In light of the uncertain global economic environment, we remain focused on prudent cost and cash management," Prevost said.

Year-on, speciality carbons saw a 1 percent demand drop, the company stated.