- In Decorative Paints, EBITDA for the year was 11 percent lower at €425 million reflecting weaker demand from our European markets. The euro crisis and the general slowdown in global markets continued to affect our business. Restructuring activities continued across Europe.
- In Performance Coatings, overall margins improved due to a combination of margin management activities and ongoing cost control. The major restructuring activities were undertaken in mature markets. Margin management and operational efficiency improvements resulted in EBITDA of €769 million, 26 percent higher than the previous year.
- In Specialty Chemicals, we recorded a robust performance in the year on the back of margin management, cost control measures and strong market and technology leadership positions. However, performance in the last quarter was unfavorably impacted by the general slowdown in demand (especially in Functional Chemicals), some destocking at year-end and production-related issues at our customers.
|
4th quarter |
|
January - December | ||||||||||
|
2011 |
2012 |
Δ% |
in € millions |
2011 |
2012 |
Δ% | ||||||
|
61 |
47 |
(23) |
Decorative Paints |
479 |
425 |
(11) | ||||||
|
141 |
190 |
35 |
Performance Coatings |
611 |
769 |
26 | ||||||
|
207 |
172 |
(17) |
Specialty Chemicals |
906 |
889 |
(2) | ||||||
|
(57) |
(46) |
|
Other activities/eliminations |
(162) |
(182) |
| ||||||
|
352 |
363 |
3 |
Total |
1,834 |
1,901 |
4 | ||||||