Arkema has reported a strong growth both in sales as well as profits in second quarter. The company psoted sales of €3.2 billion, up by 32.9% compared with Q2’21. Benefits of new business developments in high value-added sustainable solutions (batteries, sports, electronics, healthcare, etc.). EBITDA went up by a strong 47.5% compared with Q2’21 to €705 million, and a record EBITDA margin of 22.1%:

 

Following Arkema’s Board of Directors’ meeting held on 28 July 2022 to approve the Group’s consolidated financial statements for the first half of 2022, Chairman and CEO Thierry Le Hénaff said, “The excellent second-quarter performance was achieved in a demanding operating environment, marked by high raw materials inflation, the particular energy context in Europe and disruptions to logistics flows between regions. I would like to thank all of our teams, who contributed to this outstanding financial performance through their commitment and responsiveness, as well as our customers, for engaging in high quality dialogue that enabled us to support them in this complex environment. The Group also continued to benefit from the superior quality of its portfolio of technologies in high performance materials, the opportunities created by the strength of its innovation for sustainable development, and its balanced geographic presence between the three key regions.

 

Moreover, Arkema is continuing to implement its strategy focused on sustainable growth, with the successful integration of Ashland’s adhesives, the announcement of a high-quality bolt-on acquisition in the Coating Solutions segment’s downstream, the upcoming start-ups of our major investments in Aurora, North Carolina, and Singapore, and our new climate plan announced in early July, which is aligned with the Paris Agreement and a 1.5°C SBT trajectory.

 

In a global environment that many observers and experts are qualifying as difficult for the coming months and which incites us to be attentive, the new EBITDA guidance for 2022, which has been significantly raised, is a sign of confidence in the Group’s ability to meet the challenges that could arise in the second half of the year.”

 

The second half is marked by a context of risks of lockdowns in China, geopolitical tensions linked to the war in Ukraine, concerns regarding the availability and price of natural gas and electricity in Europe, as well as the significant increase in the level of inflation, which are all factors that could weigh on demand going forward.

 

In this context, the Group will benefit from its balanced geographic presence and will remain attentive to the evolution of market conditions. Moreover, it will ensure to take inflation into account in its selling prices, strictly manage its fixed costs and inventories, and pursue its innovation in high performance materials.

 

Despite the uncertain macroeconomic environment and the decline in volumes observed in Europe, Arkema is raising its annual targets and now aims to achieve in 2022, excluding further significant disruption of the global context, annual EBITDA growth at constant scope of 17% to 22% compared with 2021 (vs. “slight growth” previously), representing an EBITDA of around €2,100 million.

 

The Group is also reaffirming its confidence in its ability to achieve the ambitious targets it has set for 2024 and will continue to implement its strategic roadmap for sustainable development. Arkema will thus leverage its bolt-on acquisition policy, its industrial capacity expansions to support its customers’ growth in high-potential markets, its numerous initiatives in CSR, and lastly the strength of its innovation which should enable the company to generate €1.5 billion of new revenues from 2019 to 2030 around its five large R&D platforms.