Malmo – Perstorp, which makes speciality polyols, generated sales of SEK 2.1bn in the third quarter of 2020, down 27% on the same period last year. EBITDA across the business fell 56.7% to SEK 178m in the quarter.
CEO Jan Secher said that the third quarter was 'continuously dominated by efforts to respond to direct and indirect effects from the global pandemic'.
Secher: responding to the pandemic
In the company's specialty polyols & solutions business, sales declined by 27.9% to SEK 1.1bn between the third quarter of 2019 and the third quarter of 2020. This compares with SEK 1.6bn in the equivalent period in 2019.
At the same time, EBITDA in the division fell 67.2% to SEK 97m in the third quarter of 2020. This compares with SEK 296m in the equivalent period in 2019.
The fall in sales was a result of weaker demand and prices. Prices were weak, the company said, because its input prices fell and there was increased price pressure in some geographies.
However, it said demand for its pro-environment polyols has increased, and sales volumes increased considerably. ‘These effects fed through from sales to earnings, which were also hit by exchange rates,’ it said.
