HOUSTON, April 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Kraton Performance Polymers, Inc. (KRA), a leading global producer of styrenic block copolymers, announces financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2012.

2012 FIRST QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

"During the first quarter 2012, prices for feedstocks such as butadiene increased rapidly from the December 2011 lows, marking the end of the customer destocking that prevailed in the second half of 2011 and driving demand, particularly in our paving and roofing end use, as customers built inventory in advance of the summer paving season. As a result, first quarter sales volumes were a record 90 kilotons," said Kevin M. Fogarty, Kraton's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Not surprising however, our margins in the first quarter 2012 were pressured by the impact of these raw material price increases and the inherent lag in recognition of price increases for our products, which are typically implemented with thirty days' notice to customers. We therefore expect our margins in the second quarter of 2012 to reflect the benefit of our first quarter price increases. While we remain optimistic about the outlook for the year, our second quarter sales volume could be lower than the volume we posted in the first quarter" Fogarty added. "Although raw material prices increased in the first quarter, we generated $56 million of cash from operating activities. Through active inventory management, we were able to avert the working capital build that has historically been associated with rising raw material prices. Lastly, in terms of innovation results, on a trailing twelve month basis our Vitality Index was 14%, which is the percentage of total revenue coming from innovations introduced within the past five years."

Three Months Ended March 31,

(US $ in thousands, except per share amounts)

2012

2011

Revenues

$ 408,313

$ 344,828

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Kraton Performance Polymers, Inc. Announces First Quarter 2012 Results