Degussa Back in the Black in 2004

Degussa, the German specialty chemicals maker has announced that it was able to return to profit last year and it expected to be able to improve earnings again this year. Degussa said in a statement that it booked net profit of €298 million ($393 million) in 2004, compared with a bottom-line loss of €261 million a year earlier. Sales were up 1 percent at €11.2 billion. Looking ahead to the current year, Degussa said it expected sales to improve "slightly" in 2005 and net profit to improve further.