Ethyl Corp. said last week that it will ask shareholders to approve a reverse one-for-five stock split aimed at increasing the stocks attractiveness to investors. A company official said the proposal was not in response to a warning late last year that the stock would be taken off the New York Stock Exchange if its price did not increase. After Ethyls stock closed at less than $1 per share for 30 consecutive days, the exchange informed the company in December that it would delist the stock if th...

Fuchs Petrolub AG reported 4.2 percent sales growth in 2001, despite what it described as a downturn in the global lubricants market, especially in North America and Western Europe. The Mannheim, Germany, company said net income was down from 2000 due to exceptional items and higher interest costs, but it did not include income details in its March 27 press release about 2001 performance. The company described 2001 as a very challenging year for the lubes industry as a whole, estimating that sal...

Work is underway in earnest on the next upgrade of passenger car motor oils. Representatives of the auto, oil and additive industries say the new specification, ILSAC GF-4, will demand that oils go easier on emission system catalysts, allow better gas mileage and provide better engine protection. The upgrade faces an ambitious schedule, especially when compared to the five years it took to develop its predecessor, GF-3, which was adopted last year. The auto industrys timeline for GF-4 calls for ...