ALTANA closed the 2021 fiscal year with record results. Sales rose by 22 percent to € 2,667 million (previous year: € 2,178 million). As a result, the specialty chemicals group achieved its strongest growth in the past ten years. The growth was driven by great global demand for ALTANA solutions in almost all sales segments. Even adjusted for acquisition and exchange-rate effects, sales increased by around 22 percent. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) climbed by 13 percent to € 482 million. At 18 percent, the EBITDA margin was within the company’s long-term target range of 18 to 20 percent despite the jump in material and logistics costs and the continued high spending in key areas such as research and development and digitalization.
“2021 was an equally challenging and successful year,” said Martin Babilas, CEO of ALTANA AG. “As a global team of over 6,700 colleagues, we did not only cope with the exceedingly high demand, but also set new standards in innovation, climate protection, and digitalization. ALTANA is thus ideally positioned for a sustainably successful future.”
In the 2021 fiscal year, all four of the ALTANA Group’s business divisions recorded double-digit growth rates. The largest division, BYK, achieved sales of € 1,227 million, an increase of 22 percent compared to the previous year. Adjusted for exchange rates, sales grew by 23 percent.
The effect pigment specialist ECKART achieved sales of € 383 million, an increase of 21 percent (20 percent in operating terms). One contributing factor were the acquisitions made to boost the division’s business with metal powders for functional 3D printing.
The ELANTAS division, whose innovative insulating materials are increasingly being used to expand e‑mobility, recorded sales of € 594 million, up 28 percent year-over-year in both nominal and operating terms.
ACTEGA’s sales rose by 18 percent to € 463 million. This was due in part to the acquisition of Henkel’s closure materials business in May 2021 to strengthen PVC-free solutions, and the acquisition of the Swiss company Schmid Rhyner AG back in 2020. Adjusted for acquisition and currency effects, sales were up by 15 percent.
In the 2021 fiscal year, ALTANA achieved double-digit growth rates in all of the world’s regions. Europe, which continues to be the company’s strongest sales region, recorded sales of € 1,029, a 22 percent increase (20 percent in operating terms). Sales growth in Germany was 21 and 19 percent, respectively. In the Americas, ALTANA generated sales of € 682 million, a 16 percent increase over the prior-year period. Adjusted for exchange-rate effects, sales in this region were up 19 percent. The Group posted its highest sales growth in Asia, with sales up by 27 percent (26 percent in operating terms) to € 906 million. The main driver of this development was the Chinese market, with 34 percent sales growth (29 percent in operating terms). The ALTANA Group achieved the highest operating growth rate in India, at 41 percent.
In its planning for the 2022 fiscal year, ALTANA had based its expectations on further global economic growth, albeit to a lesser extent than in the previous year. In such an environment, the company had forecast operating sales growth in the mid-single-digit percentage range and earnings profitability at the previous year’s level in the context of a continued tense price situation in the areas of material, logistics, and energy costs. However, the impact of the war against Ukraine on demand, production, and supply processes cannot be estimated at present.
