Rhône-Poulenc, the French-based chemical and pharmaceutical company, has reported first quarter net profits for 1997 up by 6.5 per cent, to FFr 674 million (US$ 116 million) from FFr 633 million, which it attributed to stronger sales of new products and a fall in interest charges

Earnings per share rose 4.1 per cent to FFr 2.05 from FFr 1.97 for the same period a year earlier.
Rhône-Poulenc Rhodia AG, the company’s German arm which is also responsible for the group’s filter tow production, has recently announced its 1996 results. Turnover increased by 2.8 per cent to DM 500.3 million and profits before taxes rocketed up by 88 per cent to DM 37.3 million. A major reason for this was the positive development of filter tow sales.