• Continued strong organic sales growth (12%), driven by pricing power.
• Sustained strong profitability in Nutrition.
• Accelerating economic downturn increasingly visible in Materials Sciences.
• EBIT from continuing operations up 27% to EUR 267 million; EPS up 41%.
• 2008 operating profit expected to be around EUR 1,000 million.

Commenting on the results, Feike Sijbesma, chairman of the DSM Managing Board, said: “DSM has reported a strong third quarter result and the company remains on track to achieve a record operating profit in 2008. Nutrition profitability remains strong. DSM Agro benefited from favorable market conditions. DSM’s Materials Sciences businesses also performed relatively well during Q3 but are facing more impact from the deteriorating economic conditions in the last few weeks, from which of course nobody is immune.

“Looking out towards the remainder of the year, it is apparent that the crisis in the financial markets has started to impact the real economy, leading to significantly lower customer demand in some areas. Some end markets will be more resilient than others, which is one of the main reasons for DSM’s strategic shift to Life Sciences and Materials Sciences. DSM is conservatively financed and appropriate steps are being implemented to prepare for more difficult market conditions. We, however, remain fully committed to our innovation and growth ambitions.”

Full version of the press release (PDF 230 Kb).