Chemical Finance Digest, May 2-6

Strong earnings again topped last week's headlines. Here's a scorecard for selected companies:

Company                      EPS        Year-Ago     Estimate

BASF                           $2.74       $1.59            $2.30

Georgia Gulf                $0.35       ($0.58)         $0.65

Huntsman                     $0.47       ($0.07)         $0.24

Westlake                       $1.25        $0.27          $0.98   
^{Numbers in parens signify a loss. Estimates are Bloomberg
Consensus, unless otherwise indicated.}

In M&A news, Danisco's board recommended that shareholders accept DuPont's $6.64 billion offer. PPG agreed to buy Danish architectural coatings producer Dyrup for $200 million, while private-equity firm SK Capital is buying sulfur dioxide maker Calabrian Corp. for an undisclosed sum.

Two major debt and equity deals were announced last week. Quaker Chemical has sold over 1 million newly-issued shares at $40.50 each. Celanese is issuing $400 million in unsecured senior debt, rated 'BB-' by S&P and 'Ba3' by Moody's. S&P also raised Ferro's corporate credit rating one notch, to 'BB.'

In macroeconomic news, the April U.S. jobs report saw payrolls rise by 244,000, beating expectations. The unemployment rate rose, however, as the size of the labor market increased. However, employment growth should slow in May and June, according to IHS Global Insight.

Looking at the week's other headlines, succinic acid maker BioAmber has closed a Series B funding round, raising $45 million. Beyond CW, Reuters discusses "chemicals M&A fever," while The New York Times has some questions and answers on April's jobs report.