FINANCIALS
Chemours’ annual results show positive progression
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or the year ended 31 December 2018, Chemours posted sales of US$6.6 billion, a 7% increase from $6.2 billion in 2017, reflecting higher prices across all segments. In 2016, its first full year as an independent entity following its spin-off from DuPont [ADPO, August 2015], the company achieved annual sales of $5.4 billion. Net income for 2018 was $995 million, compared to net income of $746 million in 2017 and $7 million in 2016. Adjusted EBITDA amounted to $1.7 billion in 2018, up 22% year on year. In the fourth quarter of 2018, Chemours reported net sales of $1.5 billion, down from sales of $1.6 billion a year earlier. The decline was largely due to lower volumes for the company’s Ti-Pure™ titanium dioxide pigments which reduced revenue by 10%, partially offset by a 4% increase in global average prices across all segments. Net income for the three-month period was $142 million inclusive of a $33 million charge related to Fayetteville, it says. Adjusted EBITDA was $341 million in comparison to $394 million in 4Q 2017, a result of lower volumes and higher raw material costs year over year. ‘Our results for the fourth quarter and full-year 2018 reflect the strength of the full Chemours portfolio and the disciplined execution of our strategy’, says CEO Mark Vergnano. ‘I am proud of everything we have achieved together in our third full year as Chemours, and the momentum we have created across all of our businesses’, he continues. Each of the company’s three segments, Titanium Technologies, Fluoroproducts and Chemical Solutions, contributed to the overall company growth. Homing in on the Titanium Technologies segment, sales for full-year 2018 were $3.2 billion, an increase of 7% versus 2017, driven by increased global average selling prices but partially offset by lower volume in comparison to 2017. These factors contributed to a 22% increase in segment adjusted EBITDA to $1.1 billion in 2018 in comparison to $862 million in 2017. In the fourth quarter of 2018, Titanium Technologies segment sales were $666 million versus $785 million for the same period a year earlier. This decrease was a result of lower volumes of Ti-Pure titanium dioxide. Global average selling prices were higher in comparison to 2017’s fourth quarter. The segment’s adjusted EBITDA was $199 million in 4Q 2018, in comparison to
April 2019
$261 million in the previous year. Lower volume and higher raw material costs were responsible for this shortfall, somewhat offset by the higher global average selling prices, the company reports. Chemours expects weaker market conditions to continue to affect titanium dioxide volumes in the first half of 2019 but anticipates top and bottom line growth in its other two segments. In other company news, Chemours recently reopened its newly renovated corporate headquarters in The DuPont Building, a registered historic landmark in downtown Wilmington, DE, USA. The company’s return to the 106-year-old building comes after a 20-month renovation that has transformed its interior into a light-filled, modern and elegant open workspace environment, it says. Approximately 850 employees, contractors and consultants will work in the company’s new headquarters, which will occupy 280 000 square feet in 11 storeys of the building. Chemours says that it chose Delaware as the location for its new headquarters, after considering other potential sites in the USA, because of the area’s highly educated workforce, close proximity to customers and favourable changes to the state’s corporate tax structure. In total, Chemours has approximately 7000 employees and 28 manufacturing sites serving about 3700 customers in North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific and Europe. More information: www.chemours.com
Ferro Corp delivers increased sales and income in 2018
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hio-based colour solutions and functional coatings firm Ferro Corp posted net sales of US$1.61 billion for the financial year ended 31 December 2018, an increase of 15.4% year over year from net sales of $1.40 billion in 2017. Organic sales growth at constant currencies was 5.2%. The company’s net income was 40.4% higher at $80.1 million in 2018 compared to a figure of $57.1 million a year earlier. EBITDA for full-year 2018 at $259.1 million was 12.0% higher than in the previous year. In 4Q 2018, Ferro generated net sales of $395.5 million, representing growth of 4.7% from the sales total of $377.5 million achieved in 4Q 2017. Organic sales grew by 3.6% in 4Q 2018, the company’s tenth consecutive quarter of organic growth. Adjusted EBITDA expanded 6.4% year over year to $56.1 million. Net income for the fourth quarter improved to $11.0 million in 2018 compared to a loss of $8.7 million 12 months
Additives for Polymers
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