NEW YORK (AP) — Huntsman Corp. posted a more than tenfold jump in second-quarter profit Thursday, driven by a settlement it received from Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank over accusations that the banks tried to scuttle a buyout of the chemicals maker last year.
For the period ending June 30, Huntsman earned $406 million, or $1.51 per share, compared with $24 million, or 10 cents per share, for the 2008 period.
Excluding items such as the settlement over the buyout, the company lost $64 million, or 27 cents per share.
Quarterly revenue dropped 36 percent to $1.87 billion from $2.9 billion as sales volume and selling prices fell across all segments.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a loss of 13 cents per share on revenue of $1.96 billion. Analyst estimates typically do not include one-time charges.
Shares of Salt Lake City-based Huntsman shed $1.10, or 15 percent, to $6.26 in afternoon trading.
In June, Huntsman said Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank agreed to pay $1.73 billion to settle accusations they schemed to scuttle a buyout deal.
The settlement gave Huntsman a cash infusion and access to financing. The banks agreed to pay Huntsman $630 million in cash and provide $500 million in senior-debt financing, $600 million in unsecured note financing.
Hexion Specialty Chemicals had agreed to buy Huntsman in July 2007 for $6.5 billion, with Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank providing the financing. But Hexion started backpedaling and its owner Apollo Management pushed to have the agreement canceled.
A judge ordered Apollo to try to close the deal anyway, but Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank said they wouldn't fund it. The two chemical companies parted ways and Huntsman received a $1 billion settlement from Hexion in an earlier quarter.
