26 March 2008 - At the Annual General Meeting being held later today, DSM will provide a trading update for 2008.
The firm demand and pricing strength seen in most of DSM's markets in the fourth quarter of 2007 has been sustained into 2008. DSM's strong market positions have enabled it to increase prices, particularly in the nutrition business which is benefiting both from DSM's differentiation strategies as well as higher market prices in general.
Strong business trends were also seen across other parts of DSM, particularly in Performance Materials, Fibre Intermediates and Agro. On top of this, profitability has benefited from a very good manufacturing and operational performance.
Based on the currently available information, DSM expects that the Q1 operating profit before exceptional items will be approximately 20% higher than in Q1 2007 (EUR 192 million). Barring unforeseen economic circumstances, for the full year 2008 DSM now expects the operating profit before exceptional items to most likely exceed the level achieved in 2007, despite the current significantly weaker US dollar and increased raw material prices.
Feike Sijbesma, Chairman of the DSM Managing Board, commented:
"The current year has started strongly with firm demand being seen across most of our markets. DSM's performance is a clear indication of the higher quality earnings now being achieved as a result of the changes made to the profile and portfolio of the Company."
A further update on trading and the outlook for the year as a whole will be given at the time of the release of DSM's Q1 results on 29 April 2008.