The decline was offset in part by an average 6 percent increase in selling prices, the company said Monday.
The Town and Country-based company manufactures chemical-based materials used in consumer and industrial applications.
Solutia's worldwide performance products and services division, which makes window films and interlayers for architectural and automotive glass, as well as specialty chemicals, reported a $46 million first-quarter profit. Excluding one-time charges, this was a 12 percent increase over the previous year as sales volumes and prices increased.
The company's integrated nylon division, which sells acrylic fibers and raw materials, lost $14 million in the quarter due to a 21 percent drop in sales volumes. The company exited the acrylic fibers and some nylon industrial fibers businesses in the second quarter of 2005. Higher raw material and energy costs were offset with price hikes, but the division's first-quarter loss widened by $13 million.
Solutia's revenue declines despite higher prices
Solutia Inc. said first-quarter sales fell over the same period last year because of a 10 percent dip in average sales volumes and unfavorable currency-exchange rates.