In our modern society, it seems like chemicals are found everywhere. They are present in food items, boxes that contain the food such as cereal boxes, fridges, drugs, electrical goods, household items, etc. Similar to crude oil and other energy sources, chemicals have become part and parcel of our everyday life. Its almost impossible to think of a world without the chemical companies. We simply just can’t have our soft-drinks, food and even carpets without the use of chemicals – unless one can produce all these on their own without adding any chemical ingredients.
So in a nutshell, it makes sense to have some chemical stocks in our portfolio – just like our body takes in all kinds of chemicals everyday. There are thousands of chemical firms in this wold – some of them are small while some of them are giants like Du Pont, Dow Chemical, BASF, etc.
In this post, lets review three chemical companies from France. An investor looking to get a dose of stability, long-term growth and diversification can add a few of these stocks.
1.Air Liquide – AIQUY
This company has a weird name. But its a global player in the chemical business. It supplies indispensible gases to over 1 million clients in more than 72 counties.
A short note from their latest first half 2008 report:
“Air Liquide SA has posted net profit of EUR 601 million in January to June 2008 period up by 8.1% YoY as against EUR 556 million in January to June 2007 period. Revenue gained by 13% YoY to EUR 6.37 billion.
Air Liquide said that it has seen no sign of a slowdown in demand and the company reiterated a target for profit growth of at least 10% this year, at constant exchange rate”
Air Liquide is also a constituent of the EURO STOXX 50 Index which contains the 50 large companies from the Euro Zone.
2.Akema – ARKAY
Arkema is a spin-off from the French oil giant Total. Just like Air Liquide, Arkema also operates in the industrial gases and other related areas.
The P/E is 41.60 and the stock has a daily average volume of about 4,500.
3.Rhodia SA – RHAYY
Company Profile :”Rhodia is a specialty chemical. Co. products include cosmetics, detergents, pharmaceuticals, automotive, electronics, agrochemicals and construction. Co. owns and operates manufacturing facilities located in Europe, North America, the Asia/Pacific region and Latin America.”
RHAYY has a dividend yield of 1.64% and currently trades well off its 52 week high of $42+.
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