Performance continues to decline; AkzoNobel 'quietly' lowers its 2025 core profit target.

“Our third-quarter performance demonstrated notable resilience: thanks to sound pricing strategies, profitability improved to 15.1%, while SG&A initiatives and the Industrial Excellence Program continued delivering benefits. Despite persistently weak macroeconomic conditions and adverse currency translation effects from a stronger euro, we met market expectations,” said Greg Poux-Guillaume, CEO of AkzoNobel. “As our teams continue executing our strategy with agility and focus, we are steadily advancing along our strategic roadmap.” In Q3, AkzoNobel’s Decorative Paints business achieved sales of €1.055 billion. Volume growth in Asia—driven primarily by strong performance in China amid a sluggish market—and Latin America, coupled with price increases in Europe, the Middle East & Africa (EMEA), and Latin America, delivered 2% organic sales growth. However, unfavorable currency impacts reduced reported revenue by 3%, while adjusted EBITDA margin rose to 17.4%. Currency translation negatively impacted revenue by 4%; “other” factors—mainly related to accounting for hyperinflation—reduced revenue by 1%, resulting in an overall 3% revenue decline. Operating profit increased to €149 million, aided by a reduction in recognized items (down €22 million year-on-year). The Performance Coatings segment posted Q3 sales of €1.492 billion, with flat organic sales; reported revenue declined 6% year-on-year due to adverse exchange rates; adjusted EBITDA margin stood at 14.0%. Organic sales were flat overall: price/product mix improvements and volume growth across all Asian businesses offset weaker volumes in Europe and North America. Marine & Protective Coatings continued growing, especially protective coatings in North America. Pricing strategies remained positive across all businesses. Operating profit amounted to -€138 million. Adjusted EBITDA totaled €209 million, including a negative €17 million impact from unfavorable exchange rates.

Steadfastness and enduring momentum: decoding Dulux’s resilient growth logic in the Chinese market.

The coatings industry is undergoing profound transformation. Fluctuating raw material prices, tightening environmental regulations, fragmented consumer demand, and evolving channel structures collectively shape an unprecedentedly complex competitive ecosystem. As the world’s largest coatings consumption market, China exhibits even fiercer competition intensity and faster innovation pace. The industry’s transition—from traditional solvent-based coatings toward waterborne, powder, and high-solids alternatives—has entered a critical phase. Competition in specialized segments such as functional coatings and smart coatings is intensifying, price wars persist, and dual drivers of capital and technology are accelerating industry consolidation—while simultaneously triggering strategic uncertainty and divergent development paths. Against this backdrop, navigating cyclical volatility and building sustainable business models have become urgent challenges confronting the entire industry. Looking across today’s market, two distinct pathways are emerging through the contest between old and new models: First, a “disruptive” growth model characterized by breakthrough innovation and capital-driven expansion, prioritizing rapid growth and economies of scale through continuous launches of new technologies and products to capture market share; second, a “gradualist” evolution grounded in systemic capability-building and value accumulation, emphasizing quality resilience and long-termism, expanding steadily on the foundation of deep expertise in core operations. Each path involves trade-offs—and as market rationality returns and consumer preferences shift, the strategic value of the latter is increasingly evident. Recently, AkzoNobel released its latest quarterly financial report, showing stable global revenue and continued growth in adjusted EBIT, underscoring robust operational resilience. Within this impressive set of results, Dulux—the company’s flagship brand in China—stands out for its remark that it has achieved “profitable growth for multiple consecutive quarters.” Amid escalating market competition, Dulux has refrained from chasing short-term visibility or falling into price wars. Instead, it has systematically built a more resilient and sustainable development pathway centered on three pillars: “quality, innovation, and sustainability.” This path may appear unhurried—but in today’s environment of eroded trust and cutthroat competition, it demonstrates rare steadfastness and enduring momentum. Quality as Foundation: Fortifying Consumer Trust A profound value reversion is underway in China’s coatings market. Intensifying industry competition has fueled a dangerous slide from “price-driven competition” toward “quality compromise”: behind ongoing price wars lies a growing erosion of product quality—triggering consumer concerns over coating safety, durability, and application performance. According to a recent consumer satisfaction survey, the importance consumers assign to “environmental safety” and “durability/reliability” when purchasing coatings has risen consistently, while the influence of “brand recognition” continues to wane. The market is shifting away from competition based on brand halo toward competition rooted in product fundamentals and real-world consumer experience. Against this trend, Dulux has positioned “quality” as its strategic bedrock for weathering market volatility—and its commitment has been validated across multiple authoritative assessments. The Guangdong Provincial Market Supervision Administration recently released its inaugural list of enterprises with outstanding industrial product quality credit. AkzoNobel Paints (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd. was selected for the “Ten-Year List”—a distinction awarded to companies achieving zero non-conformities across national and provincial-level market supervision inspections for ten consecutive years. This achievement directly reflects Dulux’s exceptional product quality.

Dulux maker AkzoNobel posts third-quarter core profit beat

1 day ago

AkzoNobel reported a 4% organic rise in third-quarter core profit, beating market expectations with adjusted EBITDA of €388 million. The performance was driven by higher pricing and ongoing cost-cutting measures across its paint business.

reuters

2026-10-20

Dulux maker AkzoNobel posts third-quarter core profit beat

Dulux maker AkzoNobel posts third-quarter core profit beat

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