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RPM International and Asian Paints Post Financials

Hello and welcome to your late week international coatings industry update, brought to you by SpecialChem. The industry has been a very busy place this week, and we also have a few follow-ups of previous stories, so let's get started.

RPM International Inc. reported sharp gains in net sales, net income and diluted earnings per share for its fiscal 2012 fourth quarter and year ended May 31, 2012. Net sales, net income and diluted earnings per share for the fourth quarter were all up significantly over prior-year results. Net sales grew 12.2% to a record $1.1 billion from $981.8 million in fiscal 2011. Consolidated earnings before interest and taxes increased 16.5% to $139.5 million from $119.8 million a year ago. Net income was up 17.7% to $82.6 million from $70.2 million a year ago.

RPM's Industrial segment sales grew 15.8% to $724.8 million in the fiscal 2012 fourth quarter from $625.9 million a year ago. Organic sales improved 10.2%, while acquisition growth added 5.6%. Net sales for RPM's consumer segment grew 5.9% to $377.0 million from $355.9 million in the fiscal 2011 fourth quarter. Organic sales were up 4.8% while acquisition growth added 1.1%. Consumer segment EBIT increased 12.5% to $60.3 million from $53.6 million a year ago.

Asian Paints announced a 12.5% growth in consolidated net sales in Q1. For the quarter ended June 30, 2012, net profit of the Group has increased by 9.4 % to INR 288.4 crores from INR 263.7 crores over the previous corresponding quarter. Income from operations has risen by 12.5 % to INR 2547.9 crores from INR 2265.6 crores. Profit before tax increased by 10.2 % to INR 426.2 crores from INR 386.8 crores.

"The Decorative paints business in India did well considering the challenging macro environment. We are witnessing downward trend in cost of raw materials but the depreciation of Rupee remains a concern area," said K.B.S. Anand, Managing Director & CEO, Asian Paints Limited. "The Auto and other Industrial business saw some pressure due to subdued demand. Political events and macro economic uncertainty in some countries continue to affect international performance." he added.

XTIO₂ Active-Shield Fabric announced this week that its coating has reached the highest antibacterial efficacy rate of 100%, proven by the world's leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company SGS, based on the standardized AATCC100 test by the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists. The XTIO₂ Fabric coating is 100% antigerm, 100% green (zero-VOCs), non-toxic (RoHS compliant), sustainable and self-cleaning with superior anti-odor functions.

XTIO₂ is the only company in the world whose TiO₂-nanocoating technology has received 100% effective antigerm results on coated materials from SGS against dangerous E.coli and MRSA (S.aureus) bacteria. Tests were commissioned by Cleancoating LLC of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

It is very rare that a product can go from an idea to a proven product in a bit under ten years, but in the case of Inesba's Inesfly coating product, that is a very good thing, indeed, as it is already saving lives in equatorial climes. It kills bugs that bite people, transmitting deadly diseases, which kill tens of thousands folks yearly.

Barbara Saavedra's modest adobe home in southeastern Bolivia, turned white recently- and for the first time ever, bug-free. "The vinchuca were just gone," said Ms. Saavedra. The vinchuca are Triatomine, or "kissing" bugs - large biting insects that live in the thatched roofs and mud walls of traditional homes like hers. They transmit a parasite that causes the incurable, and often fatal, Chagas disease.

The Chaco, the dry-forest region surrounding Ms. Saavedra's village, is the epicenter of a worldwide Chagas epidemic affecting up to 10 million people, including one million in the United States. Ms. Saavedra's family, and most of her neighbors, often slept outside to escape the bug's nightly blood feedings.

Her home was coated with a high-tech paint that kills disease-carrying pests like the kissing bug. Over the past decade, approximately 7,000 houses in the Chaco region have been covered with the paint, known as Inesfly. By most estimates, the vinchuca vanish within a week, and no houses have suffered repeat infestations, although some, like Ms. Saavedra's, have been repainted as a precaution. The bug-killing paint has reduced infestation rates in her area from as high as 90% to nearly zero.

"It's astounding," said Dr. João Carlos Pinto Dias, a leading expert in Chagas disease at the Oswaldo Cruz Institute in Brazil. His studies found Inesfly effective for two years in real-life conditions. Standard insecticide application lasts only six months under the most ideal conditions and can dissipate within a week in harsh environments like the Chaco.

Developed by a small Spanish company called Inesba, the paint has not yet been fully evaluated by the World Health Organization; until it is, public health officials in many countries will not incorporate it into disease-control programs. But experimental efforts against a range of pests in South America, Mexico and Africa have produced promising results.

"The paint is changing the way we understand vector-transmitted disease and its prevention," said Javier Lucientes Curdi, a parasitologist at the University of Zaragoza in Spain, who has been evaluating the paint's ability to reduce transmission of dengue and sleeping sickness in Africa.

Inesfly comprises "microcapsules" of pesticides within a water-based paint. The active ingredients are released slowly over time, extending the paint's effectiveness for years. The microcapsules also hold insect growth regulators, which kill insect eggs and their young. (Insecticides do not kill bugs in their early life stages.)

The microcapsules also act as the paint's safety mechanism. Because the pesticides and insect growth regulators are released from the paint gradually, in tiny amounts, it is much less toxic than the fumigation on which many countries rely for pest control. There have been no reports or evidence of environmental or health complications related to Inesfly.

In Africa, researchers are testing the paint against Anopheles gambiae, the mosquito that transmits the parasite causing malaria. Mosquitoes pose even greater challenges than a bug like the vinchuca because they don't make their homes in walls, are virtually omnipresent and reproduce with greater speed.

I've been railing for years against what I consider to be "dull" paint colors for automobiles on grounds that these colors do nothing to enhance the actual styling of the vehicle package. This is why styling evaluations are done "in the white," to avoid the color influencing the overall esthetics of the design.

So I have some good news for fans of colors like "arrest me red". GM wants to let everyone know that the bright Inferno Orange paint color is the second-most ordered color for the new Sonic hatchback, a garden-variety but attractive design that really benefits from a zip of color.

Orange has long been a color of choice for many Corvette and Camaro owners over the years, and Chevy wanted to use that tie to help infer the sporty attitude of the new compact hatch.

Fashion also had a play in choosing the color with Michelle Killen, lead creative designer in the color and trim studio and exterior paint expert at General Motors Design stating that, "fashion houses can quickly jump on the latest color craze, since their products are designed for shorter life spans, but long-lasting Chevy vehicles must feature colors that will remain attractive and on-trend for multiple years. We had a strong feeling that Sonic's Inferno Orange would hit the trend at the perfect time and hatchback drivers would embrace it."

Looks like they hit the nail on the head this time, and while I am a member of the "red ones go faster" camp, it is nice to see a wider color palette of autos cruising the highways. Way to go, GM.

In research news, mimicking the way mother of pearl is created in nature, scientists have for the first time synthesized the strong, iridescent coating found on the inside of some mollusks. The research was published this week in the journal Nature Communications.

Nacre, also called mother of pearl, is the iridescent coating that is found on the inside of some mollusks and on the outer coating of pearls. By recreating the biological steps that form nacre in mollusks, the scientists were able to manufacture a material which has a similar structure, mechanical behavior, and optical appearance of that found in nature.

In order to create the artificial nacre, the scientists followed three steps. First, they had to take preventative measure to ensure the calcium carbonate, which is the primary component of nacre, does not crystallize when precipitating from the solution. This is done by using a mixture of ions and organic components in the solution that mimics how mollusks control this. The precipitate can then be adsorbed to surfaces, forming layers of well-defined thickness. Next, the precipitate layer is covered by an organic layer that has 10-nm wide pores, which is done in a synthetic procedure invented by co-author Alex Finnemore. Finally, crystallization is induced, and all steps are repeated to create a stack of alternating crystalline and organic layers.

Professor Ulli Steiner, of the Department of Physics' Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, said: "Crystals have a characteristic shape that reflects their atomic structure, and it is very difficult to modify this shape. Nature is, however, able to do this, and through our research we were able to gain insight into how it grows these materials. Essentially, we have created a new recipe for mother of pearl using nature's cookbook."

Alex Finnemore, also of the Department of Physics' Cavendish Laboratory, said: "While many composite engineering materials outperform nacre, its synthesis entirely at ambient temperatures in an aqueous environment, as well as its cheap ingredients, may make it interesting for coating applications. Once optimized, the process is simple and can easily be automated."

In a closer look at business news, RPM International Inc. posted record sales of $1.1 billion for its fourth fiscal quarter that ended May 31, up 12.2% from the same period in 2011. The Medina, Ohio, USA manufacturer of Rust-Oleum and other specialty coatings and sealants said its net income rose 17.7%, to $82.6 million, compared to $70.2 million for last year's fiscal fourth quarter. Diluted earnings per share rose 16.7 percent to 63 cents per share, up from 54 cents per share last year.

RPM has made seven acquisitions in just over a year, including its recent purchase of Viapol Ltda., a major Brazilian manufacturer of building materials and construction products. Viapol's annual sales are about $85 million.

"Nearly all of our industrial businesses delivered improved sales and earnings for the quarter," especially industrial maintenance coatings, corrosion control coatings and the sealants, waterproofing, roofing materials, concrete admixtures and other chemicals used commercial construction, Chairman and CEO Frank C. Sullivan said in a statement.

Sales in RPM's industrial segment increased 15.8% to $724.8 million, while sales in the consumer segment increased 5.9% to $377.0 million.

Sullivan said the company's $813 million in cash flow and available credit "provides us the dry powder we need to aggressively pursue the many acquisitions in our pipeline." He had said previously that "2013 has the potential to be even busier than 2012" for acquisitions, with efforts underway to expand RPM's presence in India, China and Turkey.

For the full fiscal year, the company's net sales, net income and earnings per share all rose by double digits. Net sales rose 11.7 percent to a record $3.8 billion, and net income rose 14.2 percent to a record $215.9 million. Diluted earnings per share increased 13.8 percent to a record $1.65 per share, compared to $1.45 per share a year ago. RPM expects sales and earnings growth of 5% to 10% for fiscal 2013.

"We anticipate growth will be at a more moderate pace in our 2013 fiscal year," as consumers return to more moderate spending on home maintenance, repair and redecorating, Sullivan said.

He said the company is seeing a slowdown in growth and investment in its industrial markets, "due in part to the uncertainty that exists around the November U.S. Presidential election."

RPM's other recent acquisitions include Australian company HiChem Paint Technologies Pty. Ltd., which makes automotive aftermarket coatings, German company FEMA Farben + Putze GmbH, which makes insulating and finishing systems for the French and German construction markets, and Spanish company Grupo P&V, which manufactures and installs materials used for fire protection, soundproofing and hot and cold insulation.

Other acquisitions included Legend Brands of Burlington, Washington, USA, a $70 million company that specializes in industrial cleaning products and fire, smoke and water restoration, Italian company API SpA, a $28 million producer and installer of polyurethane and urethane-based floors and deck solutions for cruise ships, mega-yachts and naval ships and Multispec, a $5 million manufacturer of multicolor coatings for architectural and industrial markets, which will be a product line extension for Rust-Oleum.

Finally in nanotechnology coatings news from Iran, nanostructured titanium oxide coatings were synthesized through electrophoretic deposition method which is a very cost-effect, simple, and applicable method.

Studying the electrophoretic deposition process mechanism by using various solvents and selecting an appropriate solvent in order to create the coating was among other objectives of the research.

According to the researchers, one of the most important innovations of the research was to benefit from the effect of solvent type in the formation of suspension on the electrophoretic deposition process and on the coating properties.

Studies showed that the microstructures of nanostructured titanium oxide coatings made of butanolic suspensions that contained the optimum concentration of triethanolamine had the highest quality and were the most homogenous microstructure, and they resulted in high photocatalytic efficiency.

Also about the electrophoretic deposition process it was found out that the additive could very much affect the stability of the suspension and electrical resistance of the deposit, and consequently, it could affect the rate of coating formation during the process and the microstructure of the coating as well.

Further investigations on the mechanisms of electrophoretic deposition process have been and are still being carried out by Eng. Farrokhirad and Dr. Taqi Shahrabi from Tarbiat Modarres University. They have observed interesting phenomena in regard with the mechanism and kinetic of electrophoretic deposition method.

In other news, NanoMaterials Technology Private Limited has announced that it has appointed Nagase Singapore Private Limited for marketing and distribution of its nano-precipitated calcium carbonate ("NPCC") and nano-metal oxide dispersion products ("Nano-D") in Asia. The appointment is to support its rapid growing business and expanding opportunities throughout the region... more about this news

Van Son Holland Ink Corporation has partnered with Mid-West Sign Supply to distribute Van Son's new line of wide-format inkjet inks. Mid-West Sign Supply is adding Van Son's wide format inkjet inks to its full line of sign supplies to offer customers a high-quality affordable alternative to original equipment manufacturer inks... more about this news

PPG Industries and Georgia Gulf Corporation announced that the boards of directors of both companies have approved definitive agreements under which PPG will separate its commodity chemicals business and then merge it with Georgia Gulf. This business combination is expected to deliver enhanced value for the shareholders of both companies... more about this news

And finally, Allied Finishing Solutions announced that the company has completed arrangements to act as a full-service distributor of Reliant Finishing Systems' products. The company is based in Decatur, Alabama and provides clients from across North America with one-stop shopping for powder curing ovens, powder spray booths, media blasting enclosures, and related finishing equipment... more about this news

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