Celanese Corporation recently reported second quarter 2023 GAAP diluted earnings per share of $2.00 and adjusted earnings per share of $2.17. The Company generated net sales of $2.8 billion in the quarter, a decrease of 2 percent from the prior quarter, reflecting a sequential decrease in pricing of 4 percent partially offset by a sequential increase in volume of 2 percent. The Company reported second quarter consolidated operating profit of $335 million, adjusted EBIT of $444 million, and operating EBITDA of $616 million, sequential increases of 33, 5, and 3 percent, respectively.

 

The Company initiated incremental actions to reduce cost, align production and inventory levels with demand, and maximize cash generation in response to continued demand softness, destocking across certain end-markets, and heightened competitive dynamics. As a result, the Company:

 

- Reduced inventory balances by $235 million in the second quarter with inventory reductions across Engineered Materials and the Acetyl Chain of 10 percent and 5 percent, respectively;

- Generated second quarter operating cash flow of $762 million and free cash flow of $611 million, all-time records by $132 million and $91 million, respectively; and

- Reduced net debt by $515 million in the second quarter, including a $386 million sequential decrease in debt and a $129 million sequential increase in cash.

 

"While we continue to navigate a persistently soft demand environment and volatile competitive backdrop, our team executed incremental actions that enabled us to deliver sequential earnings growth and record cash generation in the second quarter," said Lori Ryerkerk, chair and chief executive officer. "Our priority is to continue to maximize cash generation and I thank our team for exceeding our working capital reduction target in the second quarter to support free cash flow that was 18 percent higher than any quarter in our history. With strong free cash flow and anticipated net proceeds of approximately $450 million from the Food Ingredients joint venture, I am confident that we will meaningfully exceed the full year objective to reduce net debt by $1 billion in 2023."

 

"The current demand and competitive backdrop remains volatile and unpredictable," said Lori Ryerkerk. "We are executing on incremental actions to position our commercial teams in a fluid sales environment, align our production and inventory levels with current demand, aggressively reduce costs, and maximize cash generation. We expect contributions from these actions will support strong 2023 cash generation and continued earnings growth across the second half."

 

Reflective of controllable actions and improvement in destocking conditions across the remainder of the year, the Company anticipates third quarter adjusted earnings per share of $2.00 to $2.50, inclusive of approximately $0.30 per share of M&M transaction amortization. Likewise, Celanese anticipates full year adjusted earnings per share of $9.00 to $10.00, inclusive of approximately $1.20 per share of M&M transaction amortization.