DuPont's sales volume in 2022 is $13 billion, and the downstream is not optimistic in the first half of 2023

On February 7, DuPont released its financial performance report for the fourth quarter and the whole year of 2022. In 2022, DuPont's annual net sales were $13 billion, an increase of 8% in sales, and organic sales increased by 5% compared with the same period last year. The annual operating profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) was $3.26 billion, and the annual adjusted earnings per share was $3.41. At the same time, DuPont has also deployed more than US $7.5 billion through share repurchase, dividend and debt repayment.

In 2022, DuPont's net sales in Q4 was US $3.1 billion, down 4% year on year, organic sales increased by 5% year on year, and Q4 EBITDA was US $758 million. The company launched an accelerated stock repurchase plan of US $3.25 billion in Q4, and used the proceeds from the separation of transportation and materials business completed on November 1 to repay the US $2.5 billion long-term debt due in 2023.

Summary of performance of each business segment

Electronics and Industry

In 2022, Q4 sales decreased by 8% to $1.343 billion; Organic sales decreased by 2%, the exchange rate was against the wind by 5%, and the business portfolio had a negative impact of 1%. Organic sales are the result of a 5% decrease in sales and a 3% increase in pricing.

The organic sales of semiconductor technology business showed a low single-digit growth. Due to the weak demand of the terminal market and the de-stocking of the channel, the capacity utilization rate decreased, resulting in a decline in sales, partially offsetting the pricing advantage;

The organic sales of industrial solutions business showed a low single-digit growth, and the demand in consumer areas such as packaging terminal market printing declined, and the weak market of LED organic silicon application partially offset the pricing advantage and the continued strength of the broad industrial market;

The organic sales of the electronic interconnection technology business dropped by 10%. The channel destocking, further weakness in the smartphone and PC markets, and the business interruption in the Chinese market caused by the COVID-19 epidemic jointly led to the decline in sales.

In 2022, the annual net sales increased by 7% to US $5.917 billion; Organic sales increased by 5% and business portfolio income by 5%, partially offset by the 3% currency headwind. The growth of organic sales is a combination of 3% increase in sales volume and 2% increase in pricing.

The organic sales volume of semiconductor technology business achieved a low double-digit growth, mainly due to the strong terminal market demand;

The organic sales of industrial solutions business achieved a high number of growth, mainly due to the increase in sales of Kalrez and Vespel product series, OLED materials, medical and health market applications, and the increase in pricing;

The organic sales of the electronic interconnection technology business showed a median single-digit decline. The weak global smartphone and personal computer terminal market led to a decline in sales.

Water treatment and protection

In 2022, Q4 net sales increased by 6% to USD 1.497 billion; The 12% increase in organic sales was partially offset by the 6% adverse exchange rate. The increase in organic sales reflects the extensive pricing actions taken by the business sector to offset cost inflation.

The organic sales of the water treatment business increased by more than 20%, mainly due to the strong demand of the global market, capacity growth and price increase;

The organic sales of the security solution business achieved a high single-digit growth, and the decline in the sales of Tyvek protective clothing partially offset the positive impact of the pricing adjustment;

The organic sales of the building solutions business achieved a high single-digit growth, and the decline in sales mainly in the North American construction market partially offset the positive effect of the price increase.

In 2022, the annual net sales increased by 7% to USD 5.957 billion; Organic sales increased by 11%, partially offset by a 4% currency headwind. Among the growth factors of organic sales, the 12% increase in pricing reflected the extensive actions taken by the entire business department to offset the cost inflation, which was slightly offset by the 1% decrease in sales;

The organic sales of water treatment business achieved a low growth of more than 10%, mainly due to the strong demand for various water treatment technologies in the global market and the rising price;

The organic sales of the security solution business achieved a high single-digit growth, and the decline in the sales of Tyvek ° protective clothing partially offset the positive impact of the pricing adjustment;

The organic sales of the building solutions business achieved a median growth of more than 10%, mainly driven by the rise in pricing.

Outlook for 2023

According to Lori Koch, chief financial officer of DuPont,

"Despite serious inflation, global supply chain constraints, geopolitical tensions, global currency fluctuations and the continued global COVID-19 epidemic, our team has successfully passed through the challenging year 2022. In 2023, we expect the fields of water treatment and automotive adhesives to continue to grow, and the industrial end markets, including aerospace and medical and health products, will also have stable demand. We expect that in 2023 The sales of consumer electronic products and semiconductors will decline in the first half of the year, which is mainly due to the reduction of consumer spending, de stocking behavior and the subsequent impact of the COVID-19 in the Chinese market, mainly reflected in our electronic and industrial business segment. In addition, we expect that the construction terminal market in the water treatment and protection business sector will continue to be weak in 2023.

For the first quarter of 2023, we expect that the above-mentioned consumer-driven short-cycle terminal market will continue to be weak, resulting in a median single-digit decline in organic sales compared with the same period last year. With the advancement of 2023, we expect that the stabilization of consumer electronics demand, the normalization of customer inventory level and the recovery of Chinese market demand will promote the continuous quarterly improvement of business performance, especially in the second half of the year.

In terms of electronic interconnection solutions business, we expect that channel de-stocking and customer capacity utilization will begin to improve in the second quarter. The capacity utilization rate of semiconductor customer factories is also expected to reach the bottom in the first half of the year and recover in the middle of the year. This, together with the broad rebound in demand from the Chinese market for our entire product line, further consolidated our view of the whole year. "