Despite ongoing challenges in the market, Covestro made significant progress with its transformation in 2024. The company successfully sold higher volumes globally, largely due to effective measures to improve plant availability.
However, sales decreased by 1.4%, totaling EUR 14.2 billion compared to EUR 14.4 billion in the previous year, mainly due to reduced selling prices. EBITDA remained relatively stable, dipping slightly by 0.8% to EUR 1.1 billion, which aligned with expectations.
Net income fell to EUR -266 million, a decline from the prior year’s loss of EUR -198 million, and free operating cash flow (FOCF) decreased to EUR 89 million, down from EUR 232 million the previous year. Return on capital employed (ROCE) remained negative, with a 7.4 percentage point difference from the weighted average cost of capital (WACC). Greenhouse gas emissions reduced to 4.7 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalents, a slight drop from 4.9 million metric tons.
Dr Markus Steilemann, CEO of Covestro, stated, “Despite the challenges facing the chemical industry, we remained committed to our strategy and pushed forward with our transformation in 2024. The improvement in plant availability allowed us to significantly increase our volumes sold, and we continue to invest strategically in our competitiveness and sustainable future.”
As part of its transformation, Covestro has invested in expanding production capabilities. In 2024, the company made improvements to its existing plants in Baytown (USA), Shanghai (China), and Tarragona (Spain). It also invested in boosting energy efficiency at the TDI plant in Dormagen (Germany). Additionally, Covestro announced plans to expand its Hebron, Ohio site with a significant investment aimed at increasing production capacity for differentiated polycarbonates, set to begin construction in 2025 and start operations by the end of 2026.
Moreover, Covestro is steadily advancing its transition to a circular economy. The company secured renewable energy from a solar farm in Spain through a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with bp, boosting the share of renewables in its electricity consumption in Spain from 10% to 30%, thereby reducing CO₂ emissions by around 16,000 metric tons annually. Covestro also allocated EUR 100 million globally for research and development centers. As part of its “STRONG” transformation program, the company aims to save EUR 400 million annually by 2028 through digitalization and structural improvements.
Christian Baier, CFO of Covestro, emphasized, “While we cannot control external market conditions, we can control how we respond. In 2024, we focused on increasing efficiency and enhancing resilience through digitalization and AI. In 2025, we will continue optimizing our structures to make Covestro future-ready.” Due to the negative net income, Covestro will not distribute a dividend for the fiscal year 2024, in line with its dividend policy, as it did in the previous year.
Covestro also announced that its takeover offer by the ADNOC Group was successful. On October 1, 2024, Covestro signed an investment agreement with ADNOC International Germany Holding AG. The subsequent public takeover offer, which valued Covestro shares at EUR 62 each, was accepted by shareholders, bringing ADNOC Group’s stake to 91.3% by the end of 2024. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2025, pending regulatory approvals.
Looking ahead to 2025, Covestro anticipates continued challenging economic conditions. The company forecasts EBITDA to range between EUR 1.0 billion and EUR 1.6 billion for the year, with free operating cash flow expected to be between EUR 0 and EUR 300 million. The company also expects its Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions to fall between 4.2 million and 4.8 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalents.
In the Performance Materials segment, sales rose by 1.4% to EUR 7.0 billion, driven by a 12% increase in volumes, though weak market conditions kept prices low, resulting in a 1.2% decline in EBITDA to EUR 569 million. FOCF decreased to EUR 78 million. Conversely, the Solutions & Specialties segment saw a 3.6% drop in sales to EUR 7.0 billion due to lower average selling prices. EBITDA in this segment fell by 9.4% to EUR 740 million.
In the fourth quarter of 2024, Covestro reported a 0.9% year-over-year increase in sales to EUR 3.4 billion. EBITDA surged by 44.7% to EUR 191 million, while free operating cash flow grew by 246.6% to EUR 253 million compared to the same period in the previous year.
Covestro, a leading global manufacturer of high-quality polymers, is committed to driving sustainability and circular economy initiatives. The company is focused on achieving climate neutrality by 2035 for its Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, and by 2050 for its Scope 3 emissions. Covestro recorded EUR 14.2 billion in sales for the fiscal year 2024 and employed approximately 17,500 people across 46 production sites globally.
