Covestro Named ICIS Company of the Year

LEVERKUSEN, GERMANY – October 3, 2017 – Covestro has been named the ICIS Company of the Year, based on its 2016 business and financial metrics.

The accolade is awarded by weekly global publication ICIS Chemical Business, which is part of ICIS, the world’s largest petrochemical market information provider. 

The ICIS Company of the Year analysis is based on year-on-year growth in sales, profits and margins for the leading global chemical producers, also taking into account the absolute level of returns at the operating and at the net level relative to sales and total assets.

“We congratulate Covestro for a stellar financial performance in its first full year as a public company in 2016 where adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBITDA) rose 41,9% year on year and the stock price more than doubled even amid concerns about potential overcapacity in polyurethane intermediates,” said Joseph Chang, Global Editor of ICIS Chemical Business.

“The company performed particularly strongly in its debut year and the gains made in profits and returns ensured that it topped the detailed ICIS analysis of financial metrics collected for the ICIS Top 100 Chemical Companies listing,” said Nigel Davis, ICIS Insight Editor.

In 2016, Covestro’s net income jumped 132% to 795 million Euro despite a 1.5% decline in sales to 11.9 billion Euro. It registered core volume growth of 7.5% amid a challenging pricing environment.

“It goes without saying we are honored to be awarded Company of the Year by ICIS, which is at the same time a huge compliment to all Covestro employees worldwide,” says Patrick Thomas, Covestro CEO. “The first six months of 2017 were very positive for Covestro and underscore our strong position in our customers’ industries across key regions. Our performance is underpinned by the consistently strong demand for our products leading to ten consecutive quarters of EBITDA growth as of June 30, 2017. We will continue to be committed to generating value for our shareholders by further focusing on R&D and innovation.”

The ICIS Company of the Year is the 3rd part in the ICIS Top 100 Chemical Companies series, which comprises the Top 100 listing as Part 1 published in the September 1 issue, and the Regional Leaders as Part 2 published in the September 8 issue of ICIS Chemical Business magazine.

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About Covestro:
With 2016 sales of EUR 11.9 billion, Covestro is among the world’s largest polymer companies. Business activities are focused on the manufacture of high-tech polymer materials and the development of innovative solutions for products used in many areas of daily life. The main segments served are the automotive, construction, wood processing and furniture, and electrical and electronics industries. Other sectors include sports and leisure, cosmetics, health and the chemical industry itself. Covestro has 30 production sites worldwide and employs approximately 15,600 people (calculated as full-time equivalents) at the end of 2016.

About ICIS Chemical Business
ICIS Chemical Business is part of ICIS, the world's largest petrochemical market information provider with divisions spanning energy and fertilizers. Our aim is to give companies in global commodities markets a competitive advantage by delivering valuable information and analytics tools which enable our customers to identify and react to opportunities in markets which are constantly evolving. We have more than 30 years' experience of providing pricing intelligence and news, forecast data, market analytics and independent consulting to buyers, sellers and analysts. 

With a global staff of more than 600, ICIS has employees based in Houston, Washington, New York, London, Montpellier, Karlsruhe, Milan, Mumbai, Singapore, Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, Yantai, Tokyo and Perth. Some 350 of ICIS's staff are journalists engaged in reporting market prices and news, and ICIS is fully committed to upholding the highest journalistic principles of verification, corroboration and authentication. ICIS has a compliance framework that along with its methodologies and business processes adheres to the requirements of the IOSCO PRA Principles.  

ICIS is a division of Reed Business Information, part of RELX Group.

Forward-looking statements
This news release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Covestro AG. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Covestro’s public reports which are available at www.covestro.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.