Strong free cash flow Arkema continues to strengthen Performance Materials business unit

A few days ago, Arkema announced its second quarter 2019 financial repo.

Sales were close to last year's level at 254 billion euros (27 billion euros in Q2 2018)

In a more challenging macroeconomic environment, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) were well-resilient at EUR 407 million compared to the record level in the second quarter of 2018 (EUR 430 million)

Very solid EBITDA margin of 11%

Adjusted net income of EUR 192 million, equivalent to 5% of sales

Very strong cash generation, free cash flow increased to EUR 90 million (Q2 2018: EUR 41 million)

Net debt was EUR 308 billion, including dividend payments of EUR 190 million, equivalent to 90% of trailing 12-month EBIT.

Continue to strengthen the Performance Materials business unit with the acquisition of ArrMa\z (announced in May 2019), Prochimir and Lambson (July 2019), and expand Sartomer’s production capacity in China to meet the needs of the electronics and 3D printing markets (2019 April)

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performance summary

Regarding this performance and performance, .

In the first and second quarters, Arkema continued to show good resilience despite the turbulent and complex environment and weakness in some end marke.

The team made up for the impact of the decline in sales through excellent work on pricing and margi.

The adhesive business continued to make significant progress, which was in line with the Group's ambitious goals in this busine.

In the past few months, the Group has also continued to implement a long-term strategy focusing on three pillars, including organic projects with high profitability, innovation to support customers, and reinforcement acquisitions that generate a high level of syner.

Looking Ahead to 2019 : Advancing Long-Term Strategies

In the second half of the year, the macroeconomic environment is expected to remain volatile and complex, with geopolitical instability that will impact global demand and lead to volatility in raw materia.

        Therefore, the Group will continue to carry out its industrial projects, enhance the innovation momentum of sustainable development and mobility, and advance targeted acquisitio.

        In the second half of the year, the Group will particularly benefit from the start-up of certain industrial projects, including Sartomer resins in Asia, technical polymers in France and acrylics in the .

        The group will also benefit from acquisitions, including the acquisition of ArrMa\z, which was completed on July 1, and the acquisition of Shengke, which will be completed in the third quarter of this ye.

        The group will also continue to implement its operational excellence programme and implement a policy of selective increases in selling prices while oil prices remain hi.

        While focusing on macroeconomic developments, Arkema affirmed its ambitious goal of consolidating its financial performance at a high level, achieving a comparable EBITDA in 2019 to the record level of 201