In the first half of 2006, Dutch specialty chemical company Royal TenCate's sales rose by 13% to €398 million compared with first half 2005. Net profit increased by 29% to €19.4 million.

Following on from the first quarter, the second quarter continued the positive trend. Sales in the second quarter increased by 18% to €208 million and net profit increased by 26% to €14.2 million, including €3.3 million from the sale of Plasticum.

In the advanced Textiles & Composites sector, sales totalled €150 million, equal with the first half of 2005. There was strong growth in the field of protective fabrics for the American market (Southern Mills).

A major investment activity within this sector relates to the production of protective and outdoor fabrics in the Netherlands. A start has been made on the modernisation and reorganisation of the production process, targeting efficiency improvements and cost reduction.

These developments have been the principal reason for the temporarily increased costs within TenCate Advanced Textiles, which have caused the result to come under pressure. Putting the new pre-treatment line for textile finishing into operation in mid-July was a major operation. The extra costs are linked to the transformation process (logistics, quality), start-up costs and development costs. The new technology is an important step forward and will also have a positive effect on quality, capacity and the reliability of deliveries.

Sales for the Geosynthetics & Grass sector rose by 50% to € 191.6 million in the first half. This increase can be mainly attributed to the acquisition of Polyfelt at the end of 2005. Sales of artificial grass were severely depressed, in part as a result of the sluggish start of the market in the US, where growth of approximately 20% is still expected for the market as a whole. In Europe growth is lower (approximately 10%).