Our roundup of composites-related financial reports over the last two months.
Chemicals company BASF said that it had sales of €59.3 billion in the 2019 business year, a slight decline from the previous year.
Income from operations (EBIT) before special items was €4.5 billion, down by €1.7 billion from the prior-year level as a result of lower contributions from the company’s Materials and Chemicals segments.
According to the company, the trade conflicts between the United States and China had a negative impact, and key sales markets developed more slowly, intensified by uncertainties related to Brexit. While growth in industrial and chemical production was significantly slower than expected, demand from many key customer industries, especially from the automotive sector, declined considerably.
‘Our company performed well, even in difficult times. 2019 was a challenging year with strong global economic headwinds,’ said chairman, Dr Martin Brudermüller. ‘We increased our earnings in all downstream segments despite the difficult market environment. Unfortunately, this could not offset the decline in the basic chemicals business.’
Sales in Q4 2019 declined by 2% compared to Q4 2018 to €14.7 billion.
BASF says that its 2020 outlook is a sales growth of between €60 billion and €63 billion and EBIT before special items of between €4.2 billion and €4.8 billion.
Carbon fiber specialist Gurit has reported net sales of CHF 576.4 million for the full year 2019, a currency-adjusted increase of 38.6% compared to 2018. The company also achieved an operating profit of CHF 51.9 million (9.0% of net sales) and net profit of CHF 34.9 million in 2019.
The company said that it experienced solid growth across all its business units, except for Tooling, which saw a softer second half year 2019.
Composite Materials increased its net sales by 12.8% year-on-year from CHF 221.3 million in 2018 to CHF 249.5 million in 2019, while Kitting reported net sales of CHF 190.7 million.
While Tooling’s net sales decreased by 10.5% to CHF 106.1 million in 2019 compared to net sales of CHF 118.5 million in 2018, Aerospace reported net sales of CHF 53.5 million, an increase of 7.3%.
The company’s Composite Components business reported net sales of CHF 18.1 million in 2019, compared to net sales of CHF 14.7 million in 2018.
‘Gurit expects a single-digit organic revenue growth to CHF 600 million in 2020,’ the company said in a press release. We further expect to achieve an operating profit in the range of 8.5–11.0% for the fiscal year 2020. […] The operating profit guidance provided assumes a negative effect of the corona virus triggered business interruption in China in the month of February. If the business impact lasts longer, the effect on sales and operating profit margins would be more severe.’
Aerospace company Spirit AeroSystems has reported revenue of US$7.9 billion in 2019. Revenue was US$2.0 billion in Q4, up from the same period of 2018, driven by higher production volumes on the Boeing 737, 787 and Airbus A350 programs, the company said. However, operating income for the fourth quarter of 2019 was US$96 million, down compared to US$244 million in the same period of 2018, due to issues with the Boeing 737 program.
Operating income for the full year was US$761 million, down compared to US$843 million in 2018, the company said.
‘The grounding of the 737 MAX was a significant issue for Spirit in 2019, particularly after Boeing suspended production on December 16, 2019,’ said CEO Tom Gentile. ‘After Boeing directed Spirit to suspend deliveries on December 19th, we took several actions to lower costs and preserve liquidity. We implemented a workforce reduction of 2800 employees in Wichita and 400 employees in Oklahoma. We also negotiated an amendment to our credit facility providing for covenant relief into 2021 and secured a US$375 million short-term delayed draw term loan facility. With these actions, we believe our liquidity position remains sufficient.’
The company’s Fuselage Systems segment revenue in Q4 2019 increased 2% from the same period last year to US$1.0 billion, while Propulsion Systems’ revenue in Q4 2019 increased 20% from the same period last year to US$532 million. Wing Systems segment revenue in the fourth quarter of 2019 increased 4% from the same period last year to US$391 million, primarily due to higher production volumes on the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350 programs.
BASF; www.basf.com
Gurit; www.gurit.com
Spirit AeroSystems; www.spiritaerosystems.com
https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/farnborough-uk-july-16-boeing-737–1136192252
The grounding of the 737 MAX was an issue for Spirit AeroSystems in 2019.