Evonik Makes Further Progress in the Third Quarter

Evonik increased adjusted EBITDA to Euro 639 million in the third quarter, an increase of 11 percent compared with the third quarter of 2016. This was mainly due to better earnings in the Resource Efficiency and Performance Materials segments. A positive factor was the contribution made by the specialty additives business that Evonik acquired from the US company Air Products at the beginning of the year. Furthermore, the silica business acquired from J. M. Huber at the start of September made a contribution for the first time.
“Having completed the acquisition of Huber’s silica business, we reaped the benefit of both acquisitions for the first time,” said Executive Board Chairman Christian Kullmann. “The integration of both businesses is proceeding rapidly, and we have already realized initial synergies of around Euro 10 million.”
Sales rose to Euro 3.56 billion in the third quarter, adjusted net income increased to Euro 275 million and adjusted earnings per share improved to Euro 0.59. The company’s adjusted EBITDA margin was 18 percent, almost one percentage point higher than in the first six months.
Free cash flow amounted to Euro 485 million in the third quarter, about 70 percent above the prior-year level. Evonik has therefore generated a significantly positive free cash flow since the start of the year.
Evonik confirmed that it will raise both sales and the operating profit in 2017. Following the positive performance in the third quarter, adjusted EBITDA is now expected to be in the upper half of the Euro 2.2 billion to Euro 2.4 billion range (2016: Euro 2.165 billion).