Chemical Finance Digest, Aug. 15-19

Topping the headlines last week, CW's annual executive compensation survey found that industry CEO pay bounced back strongly in 2010.

 

In M&A news, the European Commission approved Ashland's $3.2 billion acquisition of ISP. Meanwhile, Cargill announced plans to buy animal nutrition firm Provimi for $2.2 billion, and Brenntag completed the first phase of its acquisition of Zhong Yung International Chemical, a Hong Kong-based solvents distributor.

 

Some late earnings came in last week. Israel Chemicals reported a 44% rise in net income, while Tronox's profit rose nearly six-fold.

 

In macroeconomic news, U.S. industrial production rose 0.9% in July, but the increase was driven by utilities and motor vehicles. Excluding those two sectors, manufacturing output rose a more modest 0.3%. That's a cause for some caution, according to IHS Global Insight economist Michael Montgomery. "Vehicles and electricity will fall back, and the odds are high that total output will fall next month because of that drag," Montgomery says.

 

The week ahead will see the second-quarter's GDP revision and the Rutgers/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index released on Friday. The consumer sentiment index reached its lowest level since May 1980 earlier this month.

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