Half Year 2024 Clariant AG Earnings Call Transcript
Key Points
- Clariant AG (CLZNF) reported sales of over CHF1 billion in Q2 2024, despite a 3% organic decrease in local currency.
- The company achieved a 15.7% EBITDA margin, excluding the CHF62 million gain from the Quats divestment, showing a strong underlying margin improvement of over 500 basis points.
- Improved cash generation in the first half of the year, with operating cash flow increasing to CHF112 million from CHF78 million in H1 2023.
- Successful integration of Lucas Meyer Cosmetics, contributing CHF23 million in sales in Q2 2024.
- Clariant AG (CLZNF) achieved cost savings of CHF9 million in Q2 from performance improvement programs, with a target of CHF175 million by 2025.
- Sales in the Catalysts segment declined by 18% in local currency, significantly impacting overall performance.
- Reported EBITDA in Q2 decreased by 5% year-on-year to CHF166 million, partly due to the absence of the CHF62 million gain from the Quats disposal.
- Sales in Asia Pacific were down 8% organically, with a 6% decline in China due to project cycle-driven declines in Catalysts.
- The European manufacturing PMI in July was 45.6%, indicating a weak outlook for industrial production in the region.
- Group net debt increased to CHF1.644 billion from CHF755 million at the end of 2023, largely due to the acquisition of Lucas Meyer Cosmetics.
Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. My name is Andreas Schwarzwaelder, and it's my pleasure to welcome you to this call. Joining me today are Conrad Keijzer, Clariant's CEO; and Bill Collins, Clariant CFO. Conrad will start today's call with providing a summary of the second quarter developments, followed by Bill, who will guide us through the Group's financials for the period. Conrad and will then conclude the with the outlook for the full year 2024 and the medium term.
There will be a Q&A session following our presentation. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. I would like to remind all participants that the presentation includes forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks and uncertainties.
Listeners and readers are therefore encouraged to refer to the disclaimer on slide 2 of today's presentation. As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded. A replay and transcript of the call will be available on the Investor Relations section of the Clariant website.
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