Covestro raises dividend after strong business performance in 2018

Covestro has achieved strong financial results in 2018, despite an unsettled year, with core volumes increasing by 1.6 per cent and Group sales rising by 3.4 per cent to €14.6 billion.

After a weaker fourth quarter Covestro could not achieve earnings at the previous year’s earnings, which were marked by an outstanding positive business environment.

Despite the decline of selling prices coupled with declining margins in the second six months, Covestro generated EBITDA of €3.2 billion, 6.8 per cent below the record year of 2017, while net income reached €1.8 billion, down by 9.3 per cent.

Based on this business performance, Covestro plans to raise the dividend by around nine per cent to €2.40 per share, compared to the previous year’s €2.20.

Dr Markus Steilemann, CEO of Covestro, said: “Demand for our high-tech material remains intact. That is a strong foundation for our profitable growth in the long term, especially in an increasingly challenging market environment. We have launched important strategic initiatives in 2018 to actively promote this growth path. These include investments in specific business segments with above-average demand potential and a stronger focus on efficiency.”

Dr Thomas Toepfer, CFO of Covestro, said: “2017 was a successful year for Covestro, even though after a strong start to the year, we did not approach our record year of 2017 overall. The last two years were marked by unusually high margins. For 2019, we expect demand to continue to grow, however margins will drop significantly due to competitive pressure.”