Specialty chemicals supplier Cognis achieved net external sales of €875 million in the first three months of fiscal 2006. This represents an increase of 12.1% over the first quarter of 2005.

All of the company’s strategic business units achieved sales growth, with Care Chemicals, Nutrition & Health and Functional Products seeing the largest increases.

Process Chemicals’ sales grew by 8.3% to €64 million. Performance Chemicals was particularly strong in the Asia-Pacific region, where Cognis saw double-digit sales growth in both its textiles technology and leather technology businesses.

With total sales of €139 million, Oleochemicals achieved sales growth of 2.2%, mainly driven by higher volumes of fatty acids, glycerine and plastics additives.