Brenntag kept core profit stable in '09 - paper

FRANKFURT Feb 4 (Reuters) - German chemicals distributor Brenntag, which is said to be planning to go public, kept earnings stable last year, evading a slump that engulfed most chemicals producers, a newspaper reported.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) last year should come in roughly unchanged from 2008, when EBITDA was 481 million euros ($667.4 million), Chief Financial Officer Juergen Buchsteiner was quoted as saying by Handelsblatt on Thursday.

Sales fell about 14 percent last year from the 7.4 billion euros chalked up in 2008, he added.

Chemical makers, including the world's largest BASF BASF.DE, were hit particularly hard by the economic crisis because they rely on suffering sectors including automotive and construction, exacerbated by massive overhead costs from chemical plants. The Brenntag CFO also said the group would keep up the pace of its buying spree. The company carried out 21 takeover deals since 2007.

Sources familiar with the matter have told Reuters that Brenntag, owned by BC Partners [BCPRT.UL], has hired investment banks to prepare a 1.5 billion euro IPO in the first half. (Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by David Holmes) ($1=.7207 Euro)