Dyno Industrier Reports Year
Corporate profits for 1998 before extraordinary items and tax increased to NOK 661 million, according to preliminary results announced today. This is an increase of 47% compared with NOK 450 million in 1997. Corporate operating revenue for 1998 rose by 5% to NOK 11,868 million. Operating profit for 1998 amounted to NOK 529 million, down 46 million compared to 1997. The board of directors proposes to pay a dividend of NOK 3.00 per share for the 1998 accounting year.
EXPLOSIVES
(Dyno Nobel) reported operating revenues in 1998 of NOK 6, 507 million, a rise of 10% from 1997. The increase can essentially be attributed to the improvements on the North American market throughout the year, but also to Dyno Nobel Europe which reported an overall increase in operating revenues in 1998.
CHEMICALS
This unit posted operating revenues in 1998 of NOK 3,505 million, down NOK 199 million from 1997. Operating profit was down NOK 81 million, to 226 million in 1998. The decline in the prices and volumes of methanol resulted in a drop of NOK 130 million in Dyno's operating profit. The core Chemicals business, adhesives for the wood processing industry, paper overlays and oil field chemicals, achieved a very satisfactory progress in their results in 1998. The sale of the product area comprising amino crosslinking resins for the coatings industry resulted in an accounting pre-tax profit of NOK 349 million.
PLASTICS
Operating revenues totaled NOK 1,708 million in 1998, an increase of 10% compared with 1997. All product areas showed improvement, but the Food Packaging and Components & Systems areas reported the greatest increase in activity.
PARTICLES
Dynal reported operating revenues of NOK 145 million in 1998, NOK 11 million higher than in 1997. Operating profit increased from NOK 5 million to NOK 6 million despite a substantial rise in research and marketing costs. Dyno expects the increased investments in research and development to generate higher profits as early as in 1999. There will be a greater focus on industrial applications, with larger volumes and greater opportunities for profit in the shorter term.