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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Covestro says its
forecast preliminary EBITDA for the second quarter will be above market
consensus at EUR124 million (USD141 million), with an expected preliminary net
loss for the period of EUR60 million also beating consensus, said Chemweek.
Ahead
of the scheduled release of its second-quarter and half-year results on 23 July,
Covestro says in the course of preparing its half-year report that “preliminary
key financial data deviate from capital market expectations.” The market
expectations are based on the latest consensus estimates of financial analysts
provided by Vara Research, it says.
Covestro’s estimate of a preliminary
net loss of EUR60 million for the quarter compares to a steeper estimated
consensus loss of EUR107 million, while its forecast EBITDA of EUR124 million
compares to a lower consensus estimate of ˆ80 million, according to the company.
Preliminary sales are forecast by Covestro to come in lower than the consensus
estimate of EUR2.22 billion at EUR2.16 billion, it says.
Preliminary
sales volumes were down 22% in the quarter, with consensus putting the decline
at 22.5%. In April Covestro reported a fall of almost 90% year on year in its
first-quarter net income to EUR20 million on sales that declined more than 12%
to EUR2.8 billion, with all business segments hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic
and lower selling prices. Last month it also placed a Eurobond with a total
volume of EUR1.00 billion in the capital markets, the proceeds of which would be
used to strengthen the company’s liquidity in the current macroeconomic
environment. In May it announced it was reducing working hours in Germany and
cutting salaries of all employees for six months starting 1 June in response to
the pandemic and the decline in consumer demand.
As MRC informed earlier,
Covestro has closed the sale of its European polycarbonates (PC) sheets business
to the Munich-based Serafin Group effective January 2, 2020. This includes key
management and sales functions throughout Europe as well as production sites in
Belgium and Italy.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report,
Russiaýû total estimated consumption of PC granules for the four months of
2020 (excluding imports and exports to Belarus) amounted to 30.5 thousand tons,
which is 20% higher than last year (25.3 thousand tons).
Covestro
(formerly Bayer MaterialScience) is an independent subgroup within Bayer. It was
created as part of the restructuring of Bayer AG from the former business group
Bayer Polymers, with certain of its activities being spun off to Lanxess AG.
Covestro manufactures and develops materials such as coatings, adhesives and
sealants, polycarbonates (CDs, DVDs), polyurethanes (automotive seating,
insulation for refrigerating appliances) etc. With 2018 sales of EUR 14.6
billion, Covestro has 30 production sites worldwide and employs approximately
16,800 people (calculated as full-time equivalents) at the end of 2018. |
