Nalco Chemical Co. has continued to weather the recession in relatively good shape, with first-quarter earnings rising 5 percent, to $33 million, or 41 cents a share, from $31.4 million, or 39 cents a share, a year earlier, company officials said Thursday at Nalco`s annual meeting at its Naperville headquarters.
Revenues rose to $326.4 million from restated sales of $267.7 million a year earlier. The increase included sales from five former affiliates Nalco acquired last year.
”The recession has cost us 4 to 5 percent of earnings, but when I go to meetings and hear what executives from some other companies have to report, I just keep my mouth shut,” said W.H. Clark, Nalco chairman and chief executive officer, after the meeting. ”During downturns, a lot of our opportunities grow.”
Nalco`s long-term debt, which increased by $112 million to a total of $391 million during 1991, is manageable, Clark said.
The company, which decided to dispose of its Day-Glo fluorescent coloring, Adco Products auto body sealants and adhesives and Penray car-care products subsidiaries to concentrate on its core industrial chemical business, has created a new division. It will specialize in the removal of particle pollutants from sewage treatment and industrial waste-water discharges, said Edward J. Mooney, president and chief operating officer.
