St. Louis, MO, Mar. 5--Chemical maker Solutia Inc. lost $39 million, excluding certain one-time charges, between its Dec. 17 filing for bankruptcy reorganization and Jan. 31, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The results were revealed through an operating statement filed at Bankruptcy Court in New York. Solutia, based in Town and Country, said it expects to file a fourth-quarter financial report with the Securities and Exchange Commission by March 15.
The company hopes to stem the losses by managing costs and raising prices on its nylon carpet fibers and adipic acid. It had liquidity Jan. 31 of $154 million cash plus $107 million in credit available.
Yet it's feeling the crunch of operating under Chapter 11. Solutia had strong net sales of $284 million in the 45-day period ended Jan. 31, which includes the slow holiday season. But high raw-material costs plus increasing demands from suppliers dropped the company's gross profit to $10 million.
Also during the period, Solutia wrote down $72 million in goodwill on its pharmaceutical services business, lost $4 million in the operations of two joint ventures and paid $6 million to professionals assisting in the company's bankruptcy.
