Afton Chemical has posted mixed results for 2011 with the Eurozone crisis taking its toll, but NewMarket still breaks financial records.
The fuel additives and chemical specialist, a division of NewMarket, saw operating profits forQ4 fall almost 18% at $59.3m against 2010 figures, but Afton's annual figures remained strong, with a 16.5% improvement on 2010's operating profits at $348.3m with help from a legal settlement. The company blamed a decline in shipments and customer inventory levels, as well as the continuing effects of the Eurozone crisis, for the end of year decline.
Meanwhile Afton's parent company reported a record year, including a 16.8% improvement in annual net income at just under $207m, despite also suffering a dramatic Q4 year-on-year net income drop of nearly 32% at $33.7m for 2011.
NewMarket's annual sales reached new heights, with its petroleum additives operations alone bringing in $499m for Q4 and a record-breaking $2.1bn in annual sales, 20% higher than in 2010.
The company predicts that it can exceed the general forecasts that set worldwide additive demand growth of around 1-2% annually, even with weakening European markets.