Type: Public
On the web: http://www.ashland.com
Employees: 15,000
Employee growth: 3.4%

Ashland's four business units are built on chemicals and cars. Ashland Performance Materials makes specialty resins, polymers, and adhesives. Ashland's Water Technologies unit provides papermaking chemicals and specialty chemicals to markets such as pulp and paper, food and beverage, municipal, and mining. Consumer Markets, led by subsidiary Valvoline, runs an oil-change chain in the US and sells Valvoline oil and Zerex antifreeze. In 2011 Ashland acquired International Specialty Products (ISP) and combined it with Ashland Aqualon Functional Ingredients to make up its Ashland Specialty Ingredients unit. The unit produces polymers and additives for the food, personal care, pharmaceutical, and other industries.

Key numbers for fiscal year ending September, 2011:
Sales: $6,502.0M
One year growth: (27.9%)
Net income: $414.0M
Income growth: 24.7%

Officers:
Chairman and CEO: James J. (Jim) O'Brien Jr.
SVP and CFO: Lamar M. Chambers
VP and Chief Information and Administrative Services Officer: Anne T. Schumann

Competitors:
Arkema
Brenntag
Momentive

© 2012 Hoover's, Inc. All rights reserved.