THE HAGUE, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- AkzoNobel, the world's largest paints and coating producer, on Thursday reported a net loss of 2.4 billion euros (about 3.15 billion U.S. dollars) in the third quarter of 2012 due to a 2.5-billion-euro impairment on its decorative painting business.
The company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization rose by 7 percent from 507 million euros in the third quarter of 2011 to 540 million euros in 2012, while the total revenue went up by 6 percent to 4.28 billion euros, mainly driven by favorable currency effects and price increases.
However, the company's trade volumes declined by 3 percent, primarily due to the economic slowdown in Europe.
"Despite the unavoidable impact of the economic slowdown, the business portfolio of AkzoNobel remains resilient, and we have reported solid operational results for the quarter," CFO Keith Nichols said in a press release.
AkzoNobel also announced additional restructuring measures to reduce the costs in the businesses that are most affected.
On Wednesday the Dutch company also announced that its CEO Ton Buchner would return to work sometime around year-end of 2012 after his temporary absence due to fatigue.
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