Huntsman 3Q loss shrinks on higher prices

THE WOODLANDS, Texas - Huntsman Corp., a specialty chemicals maker slated to be bought by Hexion Specialty Chemicals, said Thursday its third-quarter net loss shrank due to a recent price hike amid record-high energy costs.

For the period ended Sept. 30, the company posted a loss of $20.2 million, or 9 cents per share, compared with a loss of $150 million, or 68 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

Excluding one-time items, the company posted a net loss from continuing operations of $1.9 million, or a penny per share.

Revenue rose 13 percent to $2.73 billion from $2.42 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected, on average, earnings of 10 cents per share on revenue of $2.62 billion. Analysts typically exclude one-time charges.

Sales at the company's four business units rose during the period, with revenue in the performance product unit jumping 26 percent to $740.7 million

"I am pleased with our third quarter results," Chief Executive Peter R. Huntsman said in a statement. "Our swift and sustained efforts begun earlier this year to increase selling prices have proven effective and are reflected in this quarter's results, as each of our divisions realized currency adjusted increases in their average selling prices."

Huntsman said it incurred $21 million in costs and $28 million in lost profit margins due to third-quarter hurricanes.

Huntsman agreed to be bought by Hexion in July 2007 for about $6.51 billion, but last September Hexion tried to scuttle the deal due to Huntsman's deteriorating finances. A Delaware judge ordered Hexion to keep the buyout on track, essentially dismissing pleas the combined company would not be solvent.

In the latest chapter of the saga, two banks that had been slated to fund the deal backed away last month, and a New York judge declined to extend a financing agreement.

Hexion, bound by the Delaware court's ruling, is still seeking financing and is suing the banks, but the troubled credit markets mean it will have a tough time securing such a large sum.

Shares of Huntsman added 27 cents to $8.76 in premarket trading and have ranged between $7.01 and $26.38 in the past 52 weeks.

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