Issue 16/2017 - 【Chemical Giants at a Glance】

【Performance of chemical giants】

WACKER generated sales of €1,218.
3 million in the second quarter, up around 2 percent year-on-year and essentially at the same level
as in the previous quarter (€1,218.
8 million).
Net income for the current period was €61 million and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounted to €253.
4 million, down around 4% compared to the prior-year period (€265 million) but up almost 11%
compared to the previous quarter (€229.
3 million).
The company raised its full-year profit forecast for 2017, expecting EBITDA to be between 900 million ~ 935 million euros, and if EBITDA can reach the upper limit of the expected value, it will be basically the same as EBITDA after special income (935.
2 million euros) in the same
period last year.

Covestro's sales rose 17.
0 percent to €3,498 million in the second quarter, and free operating cash flow reached €319 million, up 34.
6 percent from the same quarter last year.
EBITDA and net profit increased by 56.
5% and 110.
4%,
respectively.
At the same time, core volumes edged down 1.
6 percent
compared to the strong growth in the prior-year quarter.
However, on a full-year basis, core business volumes increased by 3.
5% year-on-year.
Sales rose by 20.
8 percent to EUR 7,084 million due to an overall increase in selling prices by 14.
4 percent and EBITDA by 61.
3 percent to EUR 1,694 million, mainly due to higher
profits in the polyurethanes business.
In addition, free operating cash flow soared by 68.
8% to EUR 530 million
.

Evonik's sales rose 15 percent in the first half of the year to EUR 7.
3 billion
.
In the first half of 2017, EBITDA rose by 8 percent to EUR 1.
25 billion
, thanks to good performance in the Resource Efficiency and Functional Materials segments.
Adjusted net income increased by 10 percent to EUR 549 million and adjusted earnings per share rose to EUR
1.
18.
Net income decreased by 3 percent to €394 million, mainly due to one-off expenses
arising from the acquisition of Air Products' specialty additives business.
Initial synergies
from the acquisition of Air Products' specialty additives business.
The company confirmed that it will achieve double growth in sales and operating profit in 2017, and adjusted EBITDA will be between 2.
2 billion ~ 2.
4 billion euros (2.
165 billion euros in the same period last year).

Clariant's sales in the second quarter increased by 8 percent year-on-year to CHF
1.
53 billion.
In the first half of 2017, sales increased by 9 percent
in local currency to CHF 3,132 million.
EBITDA before exceptional items increased significantly by 9 percent
.
The EBITDA margin before exceptional items improved significantly to 15.
4 percent
.
Despite the temporary weakness in cash flow in the first half of the year, Clariant remains confident of achieving growth in local currency, improving cash flow from operating activities and absolute EBITDA and EBITDA margins before exceptions
.

BASF increased its sales by 12 percent to €16.
3 billion
in the second quarter, thanks to higher selling prices and volumes.
Operating income before special items (EBIT) rose by 32 percent year-on-year to €2.
3 billion, mainly due to significantly higher
earnings in the Chemicals and Oil & Gas segments.
Net income was €1.
5 billion, up €404 million
year-on-year.
The company expects full-year 2017 sales growth of at least 6%; EBIT before special items increased by at least 11%.

For the second half of 2017, EBIT before special items is expected to increase
slightly compared to the same period in 2016.
This forecast takes into account the possible weaker growth momentum in the Chemicals segment after a good first half of 2017 and lower than previously expected oil prices and the US dollar, which negatively impacted
BASF's earnings.

Dow (DOW) sales increased to $13.
8 billion in the second quarter, up 16%
year-over-year.
Excluding the addition of Dow Corning Silicones, sales increased 8 percent, with growth in
all segments and geographic regions.
Excluding acquisitions, volume growth of 3% reflects broad-based growth across all operating segments and all geographic regions, led by the Middle East and Africa (up 17%), India (up 14%), Asia Pacific (up 6%) and Europe (up 4%)
.

Arkema's sales in the second quarter were 2,198 million euros, up 12.
6 percent
year-on-year.
EBITDA reached a quarterly high of €398 million, and the EBITDA margin rose 18.
1 percent, compared to 17.
5 percent
in the same period last year.
Adjusted net income rose sharply to €172 million, an increase of more than 28 percent
.
Free cash flow was abundant at more than EUR 158 million
.
The results for the first half of the year led the Group to raise the EBITDA target
set at the beginning of 2017.
At present, the group expects the EBITDA for the full year of 2017 to exceed 1.
3 billion euros, reaching 1.
310 billion ~ 1.
35 billion euros
.