Univar N.V. (Euronext Amsterdam: UNIVR), a world leader in chemical distribution, today announced its results for the six months ended June 30, 2005.

Highlights H1 2005
First-half 2005 consolidated net sales increased 16.4% from the year-ago six-month period, to USD 3,131.3 million from USD 2,689.5 million in the first half of 2004. First-half organic sales growth excluding currency effects was 13.7%.
Gross margin dollars increased to USD 461.3 million from USD 419.1 million in H1 2004, due to the strong year-over-year growth in sales.
Ongoing expense controls, part of the company’s continuous improvement strategy, limited growth in total operating expenses to 5.5% (3.0% excluding currency effects). Operating expenses declined by 3.3% as a percent of gross margin. Excluding the H1 2004 one-time favorable pension adjustment of USD 4.4 million, operating expenses increased by only 4.1% (1.7% excluding currency effects).
EBIT (Earnings Before Interest and Taxes) rose 28.1% to USD 108.9 million from USD 85.0 million in the comparable year-ago period, driven primarily by sales growth and effective cost containment.
Net income available to common shareholders grew to USD 63.2 million from USD 45.7 million in the year-ago period.
Earnings per share increased by 36.7% to USD 2.16 from USD 1.58 in H1 2004.

Outlook 2005
Assuming the business environment remains favorable, Univar expects to continue its strong performance during the second half of fiscal year 2005. Due to normal seasonal business patterns, second-half sales and EBIT from normal operations are typically lower than in the first half-year. Management anticipates that this cyclical pattern will prevail in 2005.