Ad-hoc | 16 June 2003 07:36

Clariant AG english

Clariant to halt project in the U.S. Ad-hoc-announcement processed and transmitted by DGAP. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ——————————————————————————– Clariant to halt project in the U.S. Muttenz/Switzerland, June 16, 2003 – Clariant today announced that a project in the Functional Chemicals Division would be terminated with immediate effect. Expenditure on the U.S. plant to date will be written off; however immediate measures to compensate for this write down have already been initiated. As previously reported the start-up of a large-scale plant for detergent raw materials in the U.S. has been delayed due to technical difficulties. Intensive testing of the plant has now demonstrated that the required specifications cannot be achieved in time. Furthermore there is no indication that the requirements can be met within adequate time and budget. Therefore Clariant has decided to terminate the project with immediate effect. The plant manufactures a customer specific product and will therefore be entirely written off in the second quarter. The write-off Charge amounts to CHF 120 m. This charge will be balanced by short-term cost reduction measures that have already been initiated. These include a number of savings in the area of administrative and personnel cost, which are set to benefit Clariant’s second quarter results significantly. These measures are in addition to the rationalization programs already planned in the Life Science and overhead costs areas. The project termination does not impact overall liquidity and equity levels remain as at year-end 2002. Your contacts at Clariant Media Relations Christoph Hafner Tel. +41 61 46967 46 Rainer Weihofen Tel. +41 61 46967 42 Fax +41 61 46969 99 Investor Relations Tel. +41 61 469 67 48 Fax +41 61 469 67 67 Iris Welten Tel. +41 61 469 67 47 Holger Schimanke Tel +41 61 469 67 45 Daniel Leuthardt Tel. +41 61 469 67 49 http://www.clariant.com end of ad-hoc-announcement (c)DGAP 16.06.2003 ——————————————————————————– WKN: 895929; ISIN: CH0012142631; Index: SMI Listed: Amtlicher Markt in Frankfurt (General Standard); Freiverkehr in Berlin- Bremen, Düsseldorf, München und Stuttgart; Schweizer Börse (Hauptsegment); SEAQ- Handel in London 160736 Jun 03