Chemicals giant LyondellBasell Industries has reported a challenging 2025, posting a full-year net loss of $738 million, or $2.34 per share, weighed down by non-cash charges and market headwinds. The company also reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $140 million, or $0.45 per share.

 

Despite the tough environment, CEO Peter Vanacker highlighted strong cash management and operational progress. “During 2025 LyondellBasell continued to navigate the cycle while maintaining focus on our long-term strategy."

 

"Despite challenging markets, our Cash Improvement Plan achieved $800 million in 2025, well-above our $600 million target relative to our 2025 plan. With this momentum, we are increasing our cumulative target from $1.1 billion to $1.3 billion by the end of 2026 and expect to generate an additional $500 million of cash relative to 2025 actuals,” Vanacker said.

 

Vanacker emphasized the company’s liquidity and operational strides: “Diligent work by our team allowed the company to close the year with $3.4 billion of cash and cash equivalents. We made significant progress in optimizing the LYB business portfolio and our ongoing commitment to operational excellence was reflected in record safety performance. These actions have positioned LyondellBasell to capture significant value once markets recover.”

 

Fourth-quarter EBITDA was $345 million, or $417 million excluding identified items, with margins pressured by higher feedstock and natural gas costs, maintenance activities, and seasonal demand dips. North American polyethylene margins contracted, while European volumes and margins were similarly affected. Oxyfuel margins underperformed seasonally but benefited from earlier industry outages.

 

For the full year, EBITDA totaled $1.1 billion, or $2.5 billion excluding identified items. LYB generated $2.3 billion in cash from operations, reinvested $1.9 billion in capital expenditures, and returned $2.0 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. The company ended the year with $8.1 billion in available liquidity.

 

Vanacker stressed the company’s disciplined approach: “During an exceptionally challenging environment, we focused on safety, operational excellence and cash conversion to advance progress on our long-term goals. We moved forward on the three pillars of our strategy and made material progress toward optimizing our business portfolio. 

 

"At the same time, we took actions to preserve value by shifting the timing of certain elements of our strategy, including limiting our investments in circularity and sustainability to markets with proven and resilient demand.”

 

Looking ahead, LYB plans $1.2 billion in capital expenditures for 2026, prioritizing safe operations and projects including MoReTec-1, Flex-2 propylene capacity expansion, and MoReTec-2 chemical recycling in Houston.

 

Entering Q1, Vanacker said the company expects seasonal improvements: “In North America, tight year-end inventories, reduced supply due to winter storm Fern and stronger seasonal demand are supportive for polyethylene price increase initiatives in the market. In Europe, typical seasonal trends should lead to improved demand as the quarter unfolds. Oxyfuel profitability is expected to normalize following a volatile 2025 with typical seasonal margin improvements toward the end of the first quarter.”

 

LYB is also raising the cumulative Cash Improvement Plan target to $1.3 billion by 2026, reinforcing the company’s commitment to a strong, investment-grade balance sheet while balancing safety, reliability, shareholder returns, and growth investments.