Covestro Lowers Financial Expectations! EBITDA Forecast Range Narrowed

Covestro, a leading global manufacturer of polymers and chemicals, recently announced a revision of its key financial indicators for the fiscal year as it continues to drive its fully circular and sustainable growth strategy. "Despite the challenging economic environment we face, we have laid a solid foundation for future success and sustainable growth and are well on our way to full circulation," Dr. Robert Schwarzman, Covestro's chief executive, said in a statement.

Covestro expects its EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) for the fiscal year to be between 1 billion and 1.25 billion euros, down from a previous forecast of 1 billion to 1.4 billion euros. At the same time, the company expects its return on investment (ROCE) to be in the range of -7.0 to -5.0 percentage points above the weighted average cost of capital (WACC), compared to its previous forecast of -7.0 to -4.0 percentage points. Still, the company maintained its full-year forecast for greenhouse gas emissions in the range of 4.4 million to 5 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, as well as free operating cash flow in the range of -100 million to 100 million euros.

Mr. Bair, Covestro's chief financial officer, stressed in a statement: "While the fundamentals of global demand remain unchanged, they remain at low levels. We continue to face challenges across industries and geographies. Nevertheless, we managed to achieve a small increase in EBITDA, which shows that our measures to improve efficiency and plant reliability are paying off. However, the economic environment remains challenging and we have accordingly narrowed our guidance range for the full year."

In addition, Covestro announced that it has signed an investment agreement with a related entity of the ABU Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC Group), under which the acquirer will make an open offer for all outstanding shares of Covestro at a price of €62.00 per share. ADNOC International is committed to fully supporting Covestro's "sustainable future" strategy and will subscribe for 10% of the new shares issued by Covestro at the offer price of €62.00 per share upon completion of the transaction, providing Covestro with €1.17 billion to further implement its growth strategy.

In terms of business segments, sales in the functional materials business segment rose 4.1% to 1.78 billion euros and EBITDA jumped 47.1% to 125 million euros. In contrast, sales in the Solutions and Specialty chemicals segment fell 2.0% to EUR 1.77 billion and EBITDA fell 15.4% to EUR 208 million.

Covestro further increased the share of renewable energy in its energy consumption in the third quarter, taking a big step towards the Group's goal of making its operations climate neutral by 2035. The company has signed a long-term power purchase agreement with bp to supply solar power to its production site in Spain, and expects to increase the share of renewable energy from less than 10 per cent to about 30 per cent.

Through these initiatives, Covestro demonstrates its resilience in the face of economic challenges and its strong commitment to sustainability. The company will continue to invest in innovation and environmental protection to achieve long-term success and growth.