Umicore has raised its full-year 2026 earnings guidance after delivering a sharp improvement in profitability during the first half of the year, driven by stronger activity levels, disciplined execution and efficiency measures across its businesses.

 

The materials technology group reported revenues of €1.9 billion for the first six months of 2026, up 7.1% year-on-year. Adjusted EBITDA climbed 33.5% to €577 million, pushing the EBITDA margin to 30.2%, while adjusted EBIT jumped 46.6% to €442 million.

 

Adjusted net profit more than doubled to €273 million, up 102.6% compared with the first half of 2025. Adjusted earnings per share also rose 102.5% to €1.14.

 

Umicore said returns and cash generation strengthened significantly, with return on capital employed (ROCE) reaching 23.0%, compared with 16.4% in the same period last year.

 

The company highlighted continued financial discipline, including €60 million in efficiency measures, €130 million in capital expenditure and €433 million in operating cash flow. Free operating cash flow reached €295 million, while net debt stood at €1.5 billion, representing a net debt-to-last-twelve-month adjusted EBITDA ratio of 1.52x.

 

Safety performance remained broadly stable, with the total recordable injury rate for own employees at 4.3 per one million exposure hours, compared with 4.4 in the first half of 2025.

 

Following the strong performance, Umicore upgraded its 2026 outlook and now expects full-year adjusted EBITDA to come in slightly above €1 billion.

 

“We are delivering earnings growth across our foundation businesses, with stronger returns, improved cash generation and a robust balance sheet. These results reflect the quality of our business model and the disciplined execution of our CORE mid-term plan. 

 

"We therefore enter the second half of 2026 with confidence and are raising our full-year guidance to an expected adj. EBITDA of slightly above € 1 billion. While macroeconomic uncertainties persist, continued focus, adaptability and rigorous capital discipline will be crucial to sustain our performance and drive long-term value creation. 

 

"This achievement reflects the remarkable efforts of our teams, whose accountability, courage and collaboration are driving execution, embedding our renewed values and reinforcing our unwavering commitment to safety always,” said Bart Sap, CEO.

 

He said the company’s performance demonstrated the strength of its business model and the impact of its CORE mid-term plan, while warning that continued discipline would be needed amid ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty.

 

The company said its focus on execution, adaptability and capital discipline would remain central to sustaining growth and creating long-term value.