Form 20-F 2005

Documents on Display
Our Articles of Association, the minutes of our annual general meetings of shareholders, reports of the auditors and other corporate
documentation may be consulted by the shareholders and any other individual authorized to attend the meetings at our registered
office.
You may review a copy of our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including exhibits and schedules
filed with it, at the SEC’s public reference facilities in Room 1024, Judiciary Plaza, 450 Fifth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20549.
Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for further information. In addition, the SEC maintains an Internet site at http://www.sec.
gov that contains reports and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC. These SEC filings are also
available to the public from commercial document retrieval services.
We are required to file reports and other information with the SEC under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Reports and other
information filed by us with the SEC may be inspected and copied at the SEC’s public reference facilities described above or through
the Internet at http://www.sec.gov. As a foreign private issuer, we are exempt from the rules under the Exchange Act prescribing the
furnishing and content of proxy statements and our officers, Directors and principal shareholders are exempt from the reporting and
short-swing profit recovery provisions contained in Section 16 of the Exchange Act. Under the Exchange Act, as a foreign private
issuer, we are not required to publish financial statements as frequently or as promptly as United States companies.
In addition, material filed by us with the SEC can be inspected at the offices of the New York Stock Exchange at 20 Broad Street,
New York, New York 10005 and at the offices of The Bank of New York, as New York Share Registrar, at One Wall Street, New York,
NY 10286 (telephone: 1-888-269-2377).
Subsidiary Information
Not applicable.
Item 11. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosure About Market Risk
The information below is based on certain assumptions and expectations that, by their nature, may prove to be incorrect, particularly
due to changes in foreign exchange rates and interest rates, and changes in our exposure to these risks. See “Item 3. Key Information
– Risk Factors.”
Exchange Rate Exposure
A significant portion of our assets, liabilities, revenue, expenses and earnings are denominated in currencies other than the euro,
mainly the U.S. dollar, the Brazilian real and, to a lesser extent, the pound sterling, whereas the Group’s Consolidated Financial
Statements and a large part of its production and costs are denominated in euros. Variations in the exchange rates of these currencies
against the euro have had and will have a significant impact on our financial position and operating earnings.
The proportion of our operating expenses generated in the euro zone exceeds the proportion of our revenue generated in this zone.
As a consequence, our operating results are structurally exposed to fluctuations in the euro against the other main currencies. This
structural imbalance is beneficial for our operating earnings during periods when the euro is relatively weak, because it makes our
exports to markets outside the euro zone—the dollar zone in particular—more competitive, but it can have a major negative impact
when the is relatively stronger. During this period, competition with manufacturers whose production costs are based mainly in
currencies other than the euro can increase significantly, not only in euro-zone markets but also in other markets.
Form 20 - F 2005 - Rhodia
117