The Plastics Manufacturer Covestro Is Much More Confident
After good business in the summer, the plastics manufacturer Covestro is much more confident about the year as a whole. At the end of September, CFO Thomas Toepfer had already spoken of a broad recovery across all industries and a "solid stabilization of the upward trend". The prices would also rise slightly thanks to the increasing demand. The industry giant BASF had previously announced that day-to-day business in the summer went better than expected. The chemical industry is regarded as an economic indicator, as its products are required in practically all large branches of the economy.
The former Bayer subsidiary reported preliminary operating profit (Ebitda) of 456 million euros for the third quarter. That was more than the experts expected. In its core business, the company said it produced three percent more over the year. It has thus recovered better from the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic than previously assumed. Covestro put provisional sales at just under 2.8 billion euros - a little less than analysts expected. While volumes increased slightly, prices in particular, but also exchange rates, depressed income significantly. Covestro will submit the complete interim report on October 27.
With business going better, Covestro raised its expectations for the Ebitda to now 1.2 billion euros. That is the upper end of the range of 700 million to 1.2 billion euros mentioned in April. Cost savings and margin improvements are responsible for this. Covestro sees sales in its core business continue to decline. However, the risk of cash outflows is banned.