Composites maker Cytec Industries Inc. posted mixed financial results in 2014, with sales growing but profit down.
Annual sales for Woodland Park, N.J.-based Cytec were up almost 4 percent to just over $2 billion, but profit slid almost 12 percent to slightly under $154 million. About half of Cytec's 2014 sales came from its Aerospace Materials unit. Operating earnings from that unit were up almost 19 percent in 2014.
Looking to 2015, Cytec's Aerospace Materials' sales growth “will be driven by the commercial transport sector, as we begin to benefit from the entry of new, large commercial transport programs, which will be slightly offset by rate decreases in some legacy aircraft,” CEO Shane Fleming said in a news release.
Plastics-related products made by Cytec include specialty thermoplastic composites and polymer additives such as light stabilizers and antioxidants. In early 2014, Cytec formed a partnership with German composites developer C-Con Holdings GmbH to promote the use of carbon-fiber reinforced plastics in select vehicle markets. Later in the year, Cytec announced a partnership with another German firm — acrylic fiber maker Dralon GmbH — to find lower-cost ways of creating carbon fiber.
On Wall Street, Cytec's per-share stock price was under $43 in mid-January as part of a broad market sell-off, but had rebounded to $52.40 in late trading Feb. 12.
