Milacron Records Net Loss in Quarter

Milacron Inc., Cincinnati, OH, global supplier of plastics-processing technologies and industrial fluids, reported a net loss for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2007, of $4.5 million, on sales of $204 million.
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This compared favorably to the company's net loss in the third quarter of 2006 of $7.2 million.
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Manufacturing margins in the third quarter improved to 19.7% from 18.7% a year ago, primarily as a result of continued cost-reduction and sourcing initiatives. New orders of $203 million were up slightly from $201 million in the third quarter of 2006 due to currency translation effects.
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Our efforts to expand our presence in faster-growing, emerging markets continue to pay dividends," said Ronald D. Brown, president and CEO. "Our orders from these markets are up 20% year to date. Our greatest current challenge, however, is the injection molding machine market in North America, which is down 17% year-to-date from 2006. This also negatively impacts our mold technologies business. As a result, we are stepping up our restructuring efforts to reduce our cost structure in this market."
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Machinery Technologies-North America (machinery and related parts and services for injection molding, blow molding and extrusion supplied from North America, India and China): Sales in the quarter fell to $93 million from $106 million in the same period last year, as the ongoing consolidation of U.S. automotive molders curtailed demand from that sector and contributed to the glut of used equipment, depressing the market for new injection molding machines in North America.
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Sales of injection machines in India remained at record-high levels, and extrusion equipment sales continued to show solid increases. Blow molding machinery sales were down in the quarter but were running slightly ahead of last year on a year-to-date basis.
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Machinery Technologies-Europe: Demand for injection molding machines continued to show growth in Western Europe, and, as a result, segment sales rose to $46 million from $40 million in 2006. Blow molding machine shipments were up slightly. Favorable currency translation effects accounted for about half of the segment sales gain. New orders were also $46 million compared to $31 million in the year-ago quarter, as currency accounted for about one-fifth of the increase.
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Mold Technologies (mold bases and related parts and services, as well as maintenance, repair and operating supplies for injection molding worldwide): Softness in the injection molding-related markets in North America, particularly in  ; the automotive sector,  ; led to a slight sales decline in the third quarter to $37 million from $38 million a year ago. In Europe, mold technologies sales were essentially flat in local currencies.
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Industrial Fluids: Sales of $31 million were up from $29 million in the third quarter of 2006, with currency translation effects accounting for most of the increase. Segment earnings jumped to $3.5 million from $1.9 million a year ago.
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Outlook
"The ongoing consolidation among U.S. auto part suppliers and the depressed housing markets are major uncertainties affecting our North American injection machinery and mold technologies businesses," Brown said. "For our part, we will continue to focus on further expansion in faster-growing markets and on cost reductions in markets where growth has slowed, and we expect to show progressive improvement in our underlying operating results in the fourth quarter."