Polyurethane catalyst and surfactants company Evonik had sales of Euro15bn in 2018, up 4.5% on the previous financial year. Christian Kullman, Evonik’s chairman, said: “Despite substantial external burdens, we delivered on our forecast for 2018.’
Evonik is optimising its sales and administrative processes to permanently reduce costs by EUR 200m by the end of 2020. Savings of Euro 50m are baked into the 2018 figures, the company said. The remainder will be gained this year, Evonik promised.
Sales in the company’s nutrition&care division, which includes polyurethane additives, were Euro 4.6bn in the 2018 financial year. This is up 3% on the Euro 4.5 bn achieved in the previous year. The company said that this was a result of ‘rising demand worldwide, which led to higher volumes and selling prices.”
Adjusted EBITDA in the division was up 8.4%, at Euro 810m in 2018. This compares with Euro 747m in 2017. The company also announced that it will complete the sale of its methacrylate business to Advent International for Euro 3bn in Q3.
This is values it at 8.5x EBITDA. Evonik said it will use the cash it generates from the sale to invest in businesses with strong cash flow and attractive margins. It will also purchase PeroxyChem of the US, and it will build a new polyamide 12 plant.
