European Chemical Earnings Up Sharply

Abstract

There's no doubt that European chemical companies came through 1984 in excellent financial shape. Sales improved all around. More to the point, net returns advanced sharply from 1983. But although managers can be pardoned for basking in the glow of their recent success, the cold light of statistics reveals a somewhat different picture. For instance, production index data for the year, although generally up, came nowhere near matching the degree of improvement in individual companies' returns. Italy registered the biggest gain. There, the average monthly production index value for the year stood at 105.7, 11% higher than in 1983. However, 1983 was some 5% under the 1980 base level of 100, and 3% below the 1982 average reading. In the U.K., the rise was more consistent, as it was in France and West Germany. For the U.K., 1984's production index average of 115.7 bettered that for 1983 by 9%. French and West German gains were ...