But excluding the currency and pension effects, Frohlich said the company's coatings and chemicals divisions turned in improved operational performance.

"They are benefiting from the stringent cost saving and restructuring programmes we implemented, " said Frohlich.

"Our outlook for the full year remains a net result significantly below 2002."

Autonomous sales growth was up 4%, due to volume and price increases of 2% each, said Frohlich. However, he added coatings was not able to fully compensate the negative impact of currencies and pensions. On top of that, he said, we experienced upward pressure on raw material prices.

"Cost savings are increasingly contributing to performance, but we are not yet where we want to be."