Lubrizol Q2 shares rise

Specialty chemicals maker Lubrizol Corp. posted high revenues in the second quarter of 2009, sending its shares up by as much as 9%. The company’s high earnings, analysts said, may have been due to disciplined margin management at the company’s additives segment. Its advanced materials unit may also have benefited from aggressive and permanent cost reductions. Chemical companies were forced to cut costs earlier in the year to cut costs as consumer demand slumped due to the global economic slowdown. To cope with the slide, Lubrizol initiated reductions in its operating and capital budgets. In April, Lubrizol had forecast 2009 earnings of between US$3.95 and US$4.35 a share. Shares of the company rose to a high of US$53.27 before gaining to trade up 6% at US$51.67 on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock nearly doubled in market value in July since slumping to a year-low in March. (July 15, 2009)