DUSSELDORF, GERMANY – Henkel’s sales in the third quarter of 2011 increased to $5.5 billion, up 1.7% year-over-year.

Net income was $431.7 million, down 8.5% compared to the third quarter of 2010.

Adhesive Technologies attained sales growth of 8.7%.

“All our business sectors contributed to this growth, and with further double-digit increases in our growth regions, we improved their share to 43% of our total sales. Despite higher raw material prices, we managed to improve profitability in all our business sectors,” said Henkel CEO Kasper Rorsted.

For the first nine months of fiscal 2011, Henkel increased sales 3.9% to $16.2 billion compared to the same period last year.

Net income for the first nine months was $1.35 billion, up 10.7% year-over-year.

The company said it expects full-year 2011 organic sales growth to be between 5 and 6%. The adjusted EBIT margin is expected to increase to around 13%, and adjusted earnings per preferred share about 10%, says Rorsted.

TAIPEI -- Foxconn Electronics reported October revenues rose 21.7% year-over-year to NT$295.5 billion (US$9.8 billion) on broad-based end-market demand.

TORONTO – Electronics manufacturing services provider SMTC Corp. reported third-quarter revenue of $44.1 million, down 32.6% year-over-year.

SANTA CLARA, CA – A DisplaySearch report shows an increase in TFT LCD panel loading rates in October, to 75% from 68% in September.

The uptick in October fab loading rates mainly came from Korean panel makers, who increased loading to 84-85%, aiming to fulfill demand in October (the peak month in the year), says the research firm. The increase mainly stemmed from TV panel production to meet increased LCD TV orders for the fourth quarter, especially for Samsung. In addition, both LG Display and Samsung are increasing shipments to Chinese customers, with consecutive monthly shipment growth in November and December.

Taiwanese panel makers also raised their fab loading rates in October, but are only at a 65% loading rate on average, and plan to operate at the same level in the fourth quarter, reflecting the cautious outlook of their TV customers and a prioritization of finances over market share, says DisplaySearch.

Japanese panel makers are still struggling with inventory issues and have made further cuts in fab utilization for the fourth quarter.

Loading rates differ by fab generation, with Gen7/7.5 increasing to 86% in October, up from a record low of 76% in September, and Gen8/8.5 increasing from 64% to 72%.

Large-area panel shipments, particularly for LCD TVs, are likely to show a peak in October and decline by 2% sequentially in November before scaling down significantly at the end of the year.

The planned increases in panel shipments in October were encouraged by healthy sell-through results during the Golden Week holidays in China. There were hopes that TV sales in China would surge before the China home appliance subsidy program ended in late November, and that inventory rebuilding may be stronger than after Golden Week last year, according to the firm.