Kemira Oyj’s Half-year Financial Report 2021: Strong revenue growth

Kemira Oyj, Half-year Financial Report, July 16, 2021 at 8.30 am (EEST)

Kemira Oyj’s Half-year Financial Report 2021: Strong revenue growth 

This is a summary of the January - June 2021 Half-year Financial Report. The complete Half-year Financial Report with tables is attached to this release and available at www.kemira.com/company/investors/.

Second quarter:  

• Revenue increased by 13% to EUR 657.5 million (582.9). Revenue in local currencies, excluding acquisitions and divestments, increased by 16% following higher sales volumes. Also sales prices increased. 
• Operative EBITDA increased by 2% to EUR 107.3 million (105.7). The operative EBITDA margin decreased to 16.3% (18.1%) mainly due to higher variable costs. EBITDA decreased by 12% to EUR 91.1 million (103.8). The differences between operative and reported figures are explained by items affecting comparability, which were mainly related to a damage claim settlement.
• Operative EBIT increased by 1% to EUR 58.2 million (57.6). EBIT decreased by 25% to EUR 41.9 million (55.7). 
• Cash flow from operating activities was EUR 38.6 million (60.8). 
• EPS (diluted) decreased by 33% to EUR 0.15 (0.22), mainly due to a damage claim settlement. 

January-June:

• Revenue increased by 3% to EUR 1,263.6 million (1,224.9). Revenue in local currencies, excluding acquisitions and divestments, increased by 7% due to higher sales volumes.
• Operative EBITDA decreased by 1% to EUR 211.9 million (214.2), mainly due to higher variable costs and negative currency impact. Higher sales volumes had a positive impact. The operative EBITDA margin decreased to 16.8% (17.5%). EBITDA decreased by 8% to EUR 194.2 million (212.2). The differences between operative and reported figures are explained by items affecting comparability, which were mainly explained by a damage claim settlement.
• Operative EBIT decreased by 4% to EUR 114.0 million (118.4). EBIT decreased by 17% to EUR 96.1 million (116.4).
• Cash flow from operating activities was EUR 52.4 million (111.0).
• EPS (diluted) decreased by 14% to EUR 0.40 (0.47), mainly due to a damage claim settlement.

Outlook for 2021 (unchanged)

Revenue
Kemira's revenue in local currencies, excluding acquisitions and divestments, is expected to increase from 2020 (EUR 2,427 million).

Operative EBITDA
Kemira's operative EBITDA is expected to be at the same or at a slightly (less than 5%) lower level than in 2020 (EUR 435 million).

Assumptions behind outlook (specified)
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause uncertainty in 2021, but Kemira's end market demand is recovering and expected to continue to recover from 2020 in line with on-going economic growth. Demand particularly in the oil and gas market is recovering and expected to continue to recover. The outlook assumes no significant disruptions to Kemira's operations. Currencies are expected to have a negative impact on operative EBITDA.  

Kemira’s President and CEO Jari Rosendal:
"We saw a clear improvement in demand across the board during Q2 2021. Kemira's revenue grew by 13% to EUR 657 million. Organic growth was 16% and organic growth excluding the Oil & Gas business was also at a good level at 9%. Higher input costs and some raw material availability issues had an impact on profitability. Operative EBITDA was EUR 107 million while operative EBITDA margin declined but was still solid at 16.3%.

In Pulp & Paper, revenue increased by 6% following good market demand across the board. Growth was driven particularly by continued good demand in packaging and pulp and strong market demand in Asia-Pacific. Higher raw material costs impacted profitability and the operative EBITDA margin declined to 15.3%.

In Industry & Water revenue grew by 24%. This was mainly driven by the Oil & Gas business where revenue increased by 146% following continued market recovery in shale and improved seasonal demand in oil sands tailings. Segment profitability remained strong at 17.7% thanks to higher sales volumes.

We have kept our outlook unchanged and we expect the recovery in demand to continue in H2 2021. Inflationary pressures are expected to continue following strong recovery in the global economy. To mitigate the cost pressure, we are continuing our active pricing actions and we are working hard to capture growing market demand in order to increase sales volumes.

Profitable growth remains Kemira’s strategic focus area. During Q2 2021, construction of our new manufacturing facilities in the U.S. and South Korea was completed and ramp-up is ongoing. There is also higher customer demand for renewable and recyclable products supporting our biobased strategy, which is progressing as planned. Capacity expansions and the biobased strategy will support Kemira's profitable growth ambitions in the coming years."

KEY FIGURES AND RATIOS

**12-month rolling average
 Unless otherwise stated, all comparisons in this report are compared to the corresponding period in 2020. Kemira provides certain financial performance   measures (alternative performance measures) that are not defined by IFRS. Kemira believes that alternative performance measures followed by capital markets   and Kemira management, such as revenue growth in local currencies, excluding acquisitions and divestments (=organic growth), EBITDA, operative EBITDA,   operative EBIT, cash flow after investing activities, and gearing, provide useful information about Kemira’s comparable business performance and financial   position. Selected alternative performance measures are also used as performance criteria in remuneration. 

Kemira’s alternative performance measures should not be viewed in isolation from the equivalent IFRS measures, and alternative performance measures should be read in conjunction with the most directly comparable IFRS measures. Definitions of the alternative performance measures can be found in the definitions of the key figures in this report, as well as at www.kemira.com > Investors > Financial information. All the figures in this report have been individually rounded, and consequently the sum of the individual figures may deviate slightly from the total figure presented.

FINANCIAL TARGETS  

Kemira aims for above-market revenue growth with an operative EBITDA margin of 15-18%. The target for gearing is below 75%.

Helsinki, July 15, 2021 

Kemira Oyj 
Board of Directors  

FINANCIAL REPORTING SCHEDULE 2021 AND 2022

Interim Report January-September 2021                                                               October 26, 2021
Financial Statements Bulletin for January-December 2021                                   February 11, 2022
Interim report for January-March 2022                                                                   April 27, 2022
Half-year financial report for January-June 2022                                                   July 15, 2022
Interim report for January-September 2022                                                           October 25, 2022

Annual report for 2021 will be published the week starting February 14, 2022.
Annual General Meeting is scheduled to be held on Thursday, March 24, 2022. 

WEBCAST AND CONFERENCE CALL FOR PRESS AND ANALYSTS 

Kemira will arrange a webcast for analysts, investors, and media on Friday, July 16, 2021, starting at 10.30 am EEST (8.30 am UK time). During the webcast, Kemira’s President and CEO, Jari Rosendal, and CFO, Petri Castrén, will present the results. The webcast will be held in English and can be followed at www.kemira.com/company/investors. The presentation material and a recording of the webcast will be available on the above-mentioned company website.

You can attend the Q&A session via conference call. In order to participate in the conference call, please call in ten minutes before the conference begins:

FI +358 (0)9 81710 310
SE +46 (0)8 56642 651  
UK +44 (0)333 300 0804  
US +1 631 913 1422

Conference ID: 36652959#

For more information, please contact:

Kemira Oyj
Mikko Pohjala, Vice President, Investor Relations
Tel. +358 40 838 0709 

Kemira is a global leader in sustainable chemical solutions for water intensive industries. We provide best suited products and expertise to improve our customers’ product quality, process and resource efficiency. Our focus is on pulp & paper, water treatment and oil & gas. In 2020, Kemira had annual revenue of around EUR 2.4 billion and around 5,000 employees. Kemira shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd. 
 www.kemira.com