HOUSTON -- LyondellBasell Industries has revealed its end of year earnings -- $2.9 billion, up from $2.5 billion in 2011, which it claims is a company record. The strong performance was led by its U.S. olefins and polyolefins operations, explained the industry bellwether.
"Our North American olefins business and our intermediates and derivatives segment set the pace for the year's strong performance," said Jim Gallogly, LyondellBasell's chief executive. "The benefits of our focused back-to-basics strategy were clearly demonstrated as reliable manufacturing operations allowed us to take advantage of favorable market conditions.
"The U.S. shale gas revolution is clearly visible in our current results as well as future growth plans."
During the last two and a half years the company has looked at every part of its business including strict cost controls, he added. This has helped with overall profitability.
"Olefins in North America continue to benefit from strong margins created by low-priced natural gas liquid raw materials. However, outside of North America, the global olefins industry continues to experience low operating rates and profitability, negatively impacting our European olefins and commodity polyolefin businesses," Gallogly explained.
"The diversified portfolio of businesses in our intermediates and derivatives segment continues to realize solid performance. Our refining segment will be impacted by a turnaround in the first quarter as we complete scheduled maintenance at our Houston refinery."
