* Q3 EBIT cont. ops 139 million euros vs forecast 120 million
* Outlook for the rest of 2009 uncertain
* Q4 EBIT seen falling on qtr, rising on year
* Shares down 1.3 percent
(Adds analyst comments, shares, details)
By Aaron Gray-Block
AMSTERDAM, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Dutch chemicals group DSM NV said on Tuesday it expects a bumpy road out of recession as it posted better-than-expected third-quarter operating profit.
"It seems that the first half of 2009 represented the low point for this recession," Chief Executive Feike Sijbesma said in a statement.
But DSM warned the outlook for the rest of the year remains uncertain and fourth-quarter operating profit is expected to fall from the previous quarter although it should rise year-on-year.
Chief Financial Officer Rolf-Dieter Schwalb said: "What we see at the moment ... is a fragile recovery, an uneven road forward, a slow recovery."
Shares in DSM were down 1.3 percent at 30.15 euros at 0859 GMT compared with a 0.9 percent fall in the DJ Stoxx European Chemicals index.
"A very strong set of Q3 numbers, but as other chemicals, a cautiously positive message going forward," Petercam analyst Jan Van den Bossche said.
Shares in Dutch rival Akzo Nobel fell last week as concerns over its outlook overshadowed a surprise rise in EBIT, while Germany's BASF is expecting a significant decline in sales and earnings for 2009 on the economic slump.
DSM's earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) from continuing operations before one-off items fell 41 percent to 139 million euros, beating the average estimate of 120 million euros from a Reuters poll of 11 analysts.
Third-quarter sales from continuing operations of 2.02 billion euros came in just ahead of estimates of 2.01 billion.
The company had as recently as September said customer demand continued to improve in the third quarter and that it expected EBIT to be double that of the previous quarter.
Net profit of 374 million euros was boosted by a 268 million euro net book profit from the sale of DSM Energie to Abu Dhabi National Energy Co (Taqa).
DEMAND RECOVERING
On a divisional basis, EBIT at the nutrition unit of 119 million euros was in line with estimates of 115 million and DSM said it expected sustained pricing levels.
Results at the Performance Materials and Polymer Intermediates divisions, hard hit by the slump in the automotive and construction sectors, are starting to benefit from the fragile economic recovery and improved margins.
Showing quarter-on-quarter improvement, EBIT at the units of 45 million and 21 million euros beat estimates of 32 million and 18 million euros respectively.
Earnings at chemicals companies have been supported in recent quarters by aggressive cost cutting, lower raw material costs and sticky pricing, but worries remain over the short-term outlook for the industry.
DSM has also been cutting costs and said it is on track to achieve 150 million to 200 million euros in annual savings by 2010.
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(Reporting by Aaron Gray-Block; Editing by Erica Billingham)