Leverkusen, Germany – Covestro’s sales fell to €3.69bn in the second quarter of 2024. This represents a 0.8% decline on the €3.72bn achieved in the same quarter last year. EBITDA was in line with expectations, the company said, falling 16.9% from €385m in the 2023 quarter to €320m this year.
Volumes were up on 2Q 2023 levels, it said, notably in its APAC and EMLA regions. However, selling prices were lower in the light of demand, with lower raw material prices providing a partial offset. The company made a loss of €72m in the quarter, compared to a profit of €46m in the same quarter last year.
Sales in its performance materials business were up 2.5% year on year, from €1.79bn in last year’s second quarter to €1.83bn this year. EBITDA dropped by 35%, from €302m last year to €196m this. Volumes were up by 15% despite what the company described as a “difficult market situation” in the quarter, particularly in APAC and EMLA. Prices fell by 12%.
In the solutions & specialties business, sales were down 3.3%, slipping from the 2023 quarter’s €1.87bn to €1.81bn this year. EBITDA was also down, from €221m to €174m, a drop of 21%.Volume was up here, too, rising by 4.8%. Selling prices dropped by 7.7%.