Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation andamortization, a measure of cash flow known as EBITDA, fell 24percent from the first quarter of 2008 to 458 million reais,Braskem said in a securities filing on Wednesday. "The first quarter of 2009 was highly challenging, with adestocking trend in Brazil's plastics production chain throughFebruary and the downward adjustment in resins prices followinginternational prices," said Chief Executive Bernardo Gradin. "Nevertheless, the export market presented opportunitiesfor a gradual recovery in industrial activity, and by March,Braskem was already operating at full capacity," he said in astatement. Net revenue in the quarter totaled 3.2 billion reaiscompared with 4.4 billion reais in the first quarter of 2008. Demand for thermoplastic resins in the quarter remainedstable in Brazil compared with the last quarter of last yearbut was down 13 percent from a year ago due to the globalrecession, Braskem said, adding this effect was felt in theBrazilian market until February only.
Resin exports in the quarter reached 252,000 tonnes, morethan double the previous quarter and up 106 percent from thefirst quarter of 2008. "This atypical performance reflects the effort to normalizeinventories through opportunities in the international market,which showed signs of recovery in terms of demand and prices,notably in Asia," Braskem said. The company posted a net financial expense of 209 millionreais in the first quarter, compared with an expense of 2.2billion reais in the fourth quarter of 2008, after theappreciation of 1 percent in the Brazilian currency, the real,against the U.S. dollar during the first three months of 2009.($1=2.149 reais)(Reporting by Vanessa Stelzer, Translated by Inae Riveras,editing by Dave Zimmerman) Stocks Brazil. NEW YORK--(Business Wire)--Reportlinker announces that a new market research report is available in itscatalogue. Healthcare Industry in France- IT Market Assessment http:// Healthcare IT segment in France is considered as one of the developedhealthcare sectors around the globe. The key element to the growth of thehealthcare industry in France is its Government`s deployment of large scaleinvestment policies in both private as well as public sector hospitals.
This isused to improve the IT infrastructure around the healthcare organizations. Thehealthcare industry in France comprises public as well as private sectorhospitals and insurance providers along with pharmaceuticals, manufacturers, andservice providers of medical devices, systems and technologies, laboratoryequipment, and associated support services. The private sector players arecomparatively keener on having efficient financial and management systemswhereas the public sector is emphasizing on deploying technologies to provide animproved and advanced patient care. The report forecasts the IT spending of the Healthcare Industry in France overthe period 2008-2012.