Recovery sees Q1 sales and profits boost for Evonik

May 13-Evonik says sales and profits both increased during the first quarter of the year, thanks to a gradual recovery of the economy.

For the period ending 31 March, sales grew 18% to ?.8bn and Ebitda went up 126% to ?44m. The Germany-based company s net income was ?90m, compared with a loss of ?6m in Q1 2009.

We started this year with strong figures, said Evonik chairman Klaus Engel, adding: The economy is starting to recover and our confidence is growing.

All segments experienced a rise in demand and business for the chemicals division picked up strongly in Asia and Europe. Sales in this sector grew 32% to ?bn, attributed to a 30 percentage point increase in volumes.

Evonik is therefore more optimistic about the outlook for the full year than it was at the start of the year and now anticipates that sales growth will be in the double-digit percentage range. Overall, Ebitda and Ebit will be higher than last year, says the firm.