Despite a revenue drop, US compounder and distributor PolyOne (Cleveland, Ohio / USA; www.polyone.com) boosted its full year 2016 operating income by around 12% to USD 282m, due largely to the Performance Products and Solutions segment. Revenue was 1.1% lower at USD 3.34 bn. Earnings per share (EPS) rose nearly 20% to USD 1.95 with net profit flattered by fourth-quarter one-offs in pension adjustments and lower restructuring costs.

Operating income at Performance Products and Solutions (PVC applications) improved by USD 17m, or 30%, to more than USD 74m. Distribution was stable, thanks to higher sales. In contrast, profit at Specialty Platform – whose three divisions contribute 65% to group operating income – posted a 10.5% decline at USD 205m. Designed Structures and Solutions eased by more than USD 17m, slipping into negative territory with a USD 3.8m loss, while Color, Additives and Inks fell 6% to USD 128m. Profit at Engineered Materials inched up nearly 2% to USD 81.1m.

PolyOne disclosed also its acquisitions of SilCoTec (La Porte, Indiana / USA; www.silcotec.com), supplier of silicon and elastomer compounds, and Comptek (Diez / Germany; www.comptek.de), producer of custom-made special compounds, colour-batches and precolours.

PolyOne wants to grow its Specialty Platform products, partly through acquisitions. Last year, it bought three companies – Kraton’s (Houston, Texas / USA; www.kraton.com) thermoplast elastomer business, Gordon Composites and Polystrand (see Plasteurope.com of 29.07.2016). It clinched a collaboration deal with Merck (Darmstadt / Germany; www.merck.de) to develop in-mould 3D technology and an Indian factory expansion expects to start compounds production this year (see Plasteurope.com of 21.10.2016 and 19.10.2016).