Kemira Oyj, Half-year Financial Report, July 18, 2025 at 8.30 am (EEST)
Kemira Oyj's January-June 2025 Half-year Financial Report: Continued solid
profitability in a challenging market environment
This is a summary of the January-June 2025 Half-year Financial Report. The
complete report with the tables is attached to this release and available at
kemira.com/investors (https://www.kemira.com/company/investors/).
Q2 2025 performance
· Revenue decreased by 5%, to EUR 693.4 million (733.4). Revenue in local
currencies, excluding acquisitions and divestments, decreased by 3%
· Revenue declined in Packaging & Hygiene Solutions and in Water Solutions and
remained stable in Fiber Essentials.
· Sales prices and volumes declined year-on-year and the weakened US dollar
had a negative impact on revenue. Sequentially, sales volumes increased.
· Operative EBITDA decreased by 6%, to EUR 131.8 million (140.5). Operative
EBITDA margin was 19.0% (19.2%).
· Operative EBITDA margin improved in Water Solutions and in Fiber Essentials,
but decreased in Packaging & Hygiene Solutions.
· EBITDA was EUR 129.4 million (137.1) and EBITDA margin was 18.7% (18.7%).
· Operative EBIT decreased by 11%, to EUR 83.4 million (94.0), operative EBIT
margin was 12.0% (12.8%).
· EBIT decreased by 11%, to EUR 80.8 million (90.7).
· Cash flow from operating activities was EUR 63.8 million (109.4).
· EPS (diluted) was EUR 0.35 (0.40).
January-June 2025 performance*
· Revenue decreased by 3%, to EUR 1,402.2 million (1,452.2*). Revenue in
local currencies, excluding acquisitions and divestments, decreased by 3%.
· Revenue declined in Packaging & Hygiene Solutions and remained stable in
Water Solutions and in Fiber Essentials.
· Sales volumes and prices declined year-on-year.
· Operative EBITDA decreased by 11% to EUR 267.3 million (299.7*), mainly
driven by lower sales prices and currency impact. Operative EBITDA margin was
19.1% (20.6%*).
· Operative EBIT decreased by 19% to EUR 169.1 million (208.4*).
* Oil & Gas divestment adjusted
January-June 2025 reported performance (Including the Oil & Gas business in
2024)
· Revenue decreased by 6%, to EUR 1,402.2 million (1,496.7).
· Operative EBITDA decreased by 12%, to EUR 267.3 million (303.0). Operative
EBITDA margin was 19.1 (20.2 %).
· EBITDA was EUR 263.9 million (291.2) and EBITDA margin18.8% (19.5%).
· Operative EBIT decreased by 20%, to EUR 169.1 million (211.6).
· EBIT was EUR 165.5 million (199.9) and EBIT margin 11.8% (13.4%).
· Cash flow from operating activities was EUR 118.9 million (207.1).
· EPS (diluted) was EUR 0.73 (0.89).
The Oil & Gas divestment
Kemira divested its Oil & Gas (O&G) related portfolio on February 2, 2024. The
comparison period January-June 2024 includes around EUR 45 million of revenue
and around EUR 3 million of operative EBITDA from Oil & Gas in Q1 2024 . Kemira
has presented the Oil & Gas divestment adjusted figures and performance in the
relevant parts of the report. The adjusted figures reflect the current
performance of Kemira's business units and Kemira's management follows the Oil &
Gas divestment adjusted figures.
Outlook for 2025 (updated on July 10, 2025)
REVENUE
Kemira's revenue is expected to be between EUR 2,700 and EUR 2,950 million in
2025 (reported 2024 revenue: EUR 2,948.1 million).
OPERATIVE EBITDA
Kemira's operative EBITDA is expected to be between EUR 510 and EUR 580 million
in 2025 (reported 2024 operative EBITDA: EUR 585.4 million).
ASSUMPTIONS BEHIND THE OUTLOOK
The continued global economic uncertainty is expected to result in softer volume
demand in Kemira's end-markets. The uncertainty is expected to impact the
packaging and pulp market in particular, while the water treatment market is
expected to grow in all regions. In a weaker macroeconomic setting, the raw
material environment is expected to remain rather stable as a whole. The outlook
assumes no major disruptions to Kemira's manufacturing operations, to the supply
chain or to Kemira's energy-generating assets in Finland. The outlook assumes
the US dollar to remain approximately on the same level as in the end of Q2
2025.
Previous outlook for 2025
REVENUE
Kemira's revenue is expected to be between EUR 2,800 and EUR 3,200 million in
2025 (reported 2024 revenue: EUR 2,948.1 million).
OPERATIVE EBITDA
Kemira's operative EBITDA is expected to be between EUR 540 and EUR 640 million
in 2025 (reported 2024 operative EBITDA: EUR 585.4 million).
ASSUMPTIONS BEHIND THE OUTLOOK
The increased global economic uncertainty is expected to result in softer volume
demand in Kemira's end-markets. The uncertainty is expected to impact the
packaging market in particular, while the water treatment market is expected to
grow in all regions. In a weaker macroeconomic setting, the raw material
environment is expected to remain rather stable as a whole. The outlook assumes
no major disruptions to Kemira's manufacturing operations, to the supply chain
or to Kemira's energy-generating assets in Finland. The outlook assumes some
weakening of the US dollar compared to year-end rate.
Kemira's President & CEO, Antti Salminen:
"Kemira had a mixed Q2. Uncertainty in the global economy continued, following
the changing tariff landscape and increased geopolitical tensions. The
uncertainty has particularly impacted Packaging & Hygiene Solutions' demand
environment which continues to be weak, whereas the market environment has been
more stable within Water Solutions and Fiber Essentials.
As a result of challenging demand conditions, as well as the weakened US dollar,
Kemira's Q2 revenue declined year-on-year. Both sales volumes and prices
decreased. However, the operative EBITDA margin was good, at 19.0%,
demonstrating the resiliency of our business model. I would like to thank all
Kemira employees for their hard work and commitment during the quarter.
As for the business units, Water Solutions continued as Kemira's strong
backbone. Although revenue declined in Q2, profitability improved from the
previous year, and the operative EBITDA margin totaled 22.9%. In Packaging &
Hygiene Solutions, revenue declined year-on-year, following the challenging
demand environment. Operative EBITDA margin declined to 9.9%, mainly driven by
the challenging demand environment and profitability issues in the APAC region,
particularly in China. The current profitability level is clearly below our
long-term expectations, and as a result, we have launched a profitability
improvement initiative aiming at significant margin improvement next year. In
Fiber Essentials, revenue remained stable year-on-year. Ocperative EBITDA margin
improved to 25.9%.
We continued to execute our growth strategy in Q2. In June, we announced an
expansion investment of EUR 10 million related to a new sodium borohydride
production line at our Äetsä plant. We also announced a partnership with Bluepha
to commercialize fully biobased barrier coatings in the APAC region. In
addition, the acquisition of Thatcher Group's iron sulfate coagulant business in
the US, announced previously, was completed at the beginning of the quarter. We
are actively working on several growth initiatives and also continue to look for
small-to-mid-sized acquisitions, particularly in Water Solutions.
Looking into the rest of the year, at the moment, we do not see improvement in
the demand environment in the packaging and pulp industry. As a result of the
continued market softness and the weakened US dollar, we updated our outlook
last week. We now expect our 2025 revenue to be between EUR 2,700 million and
EUR 2,950 million and our 2025 operative EBITDA to be between EUR 510 million
and EUR 580 million. The revised outlook also reflects the impact of the
weakened US dollar.
Finally, our confidence in Kemira's future success remains high, despite the
current market uncertainty and continued softness in our demand environment. The
Board of Directors has decided to launch a share buyback program to optimize the
company's capital structure and to serve the interests of the diverse
shareholder base. Despite launching the buyback program, our dividend policy and
key strategic priorities remain unchanged and our strong balance sheet continues
to enable investments in both organic and inorganic growth.
Kemira has gone through many structural changes over the past few years. The
results are now visible in our ability to maintain our good profitability level
even in weaker and more uncertain demand conditions. While we navigate the
challenging market environment we continue to focus on the things we can impact
- serving our customers with excellence and managing our costs effectively, and
we remain fully committed to executing our strategy and growth initiatives."
KEY FIGURES AND RATIOS
EUR million Apr-Jun Apr-Jun Jan-Jun Jan-Jun Jan-Dec
2025 2024 2025 2024 2024
Revenue
693.4 733.4 1,402.2 1,496.7 2,948.1
Revenue, O&G
divestment 693.4 733.4 1,402.2 1,452.2 2,903.5
adjusted
Operative
EBITDA 131.8 140.5 267.3 303.0 585.4
Operative
EBITDA, O&G 131.8 140.5 267.3 299.7 582.1
divestment
adjusted
Operative
EBITDA, % 19.0 19.2 19.1 20.2 19.9
Operative
EBITDA %, O&G 19.0 19.2 19.1 20.6 20.0
divestment
adjusted
EBITDA
129.4 137.1 263.9 291.2 550.7
EBITDA, %
18.7 18.7 18.8 19.5 18.7
Operative EBIT
83.4 94.0 169.1 211.6 398.7
Operative EBIT,
O&G divestment 83.4 94.0 169.1 208.4 395.5
adjusted
Operative EBIT,
% 12.0 12.8 12.1 14.1 13.5
Operative EBIT
%, O&G 12.0 12.8 12.1 14.4 13.6
divestment
adjusted
EBIT
80.8 90.7 165.5 199.9 363.2
EBIT, %
11.7 12.4 11.8 13.4 12.3
Net profit for
the period 57.5 65.4 119.2 144.4 262.7
Earnings per
share, diluted, 0.35 0.40 0.73 0.89 1.61
EUR
Capital
employed* 1,920.1 2,032.1 1,920.1 2,032.1 1,920.1
Capital
employed*, O&G 1,920.1 1,897.8 1,920.1 1,897.8 1,920.1
divestment
adjusted
Operative
ROCE*, % 18.5 21.3 18.5 21.3 20.8
Operative ROCE,
%, O&G 18.5 21.6 18.5 21.6 20.6
divestment
adjusted
ROCE*, %
17.1 15.0 17.1 15.0 18.9
Cash flow from
operating 63.8 109.4 118.9 207.1 484.6
activities
Capital
expenditure 43.8 35.0 71.3 61.2 167.3
excl.
acquisition
Capital
Expenditure 43.8 35.0 71.3 61.2 167.3
excl.
Acquisitions,
O&G divestment
adjusted
Capital
expenditure 66.1 35.0 93.7 61.2 170.5
Cash flow after 249.2
investing -1.9 70.4 73.8 411.8
activities
Equity ratio, %
at period-end 55 53 55 53 53
Equity per
share, EUR 11.01 11.03 11.01 11.03 11.59
Gearing, % at
period-end 17 21 17 21 16
*12-month rolling average
Unless otherwise stated, all comparisons in this report are made to the
corresponding period in 2024.
Kemira provides certain financial performance measures (alternative performance
measures) that are not defined by IFRS. Kemira believes that alternative
performance measures followed by capital markets and by Kemira management, such
as revenue growth in local currencies, excluding acquisitions and divestments
(=organic growth), EBITDA, operative EBITDA, operative EBIT, cash flow after
investing activities and gearing provide useful information on Kemira's
comparable business performance and financial position. Selected alternative
performance measures are also used as performance criteria in remuneration.
Kemira's alternative performance measures should not be viewed in isolation from
the equivalent IFRS measures, and alternative performance measures should be
read in conjunction with the most directly comparable IFRS measures. Definitions
of the alternative performance measures can be found in the definitions of the
key figures in this report, as well as at www.kemira.com > Investors > Financial
information. All the figures in this report have been individually rounded and
consequently the sum of the individual figures may deviate slightly from the
total figure presented.
Financial targets
Kemira has the following long-term financial targets to support its growth
strategy; Kemira's target is to achieve annual organic growth of over 4%, an
operative EBITDA margin of between 18-21% and operative ROCE of over 16%.
Financial reporting schedule 2025 and 2026
Half-year financial report January-September
2025 October 24, 2025
Financial Statements Bulletin for the year
2025 February 12, 2026
Interim report January-March 2026
April 24, 2026
Half-year financial report January-June
2026 July 17, 2026
Interim report January-September
2026 October 23,
2026
The Annual Report 2025 will be published during the week starting on February
16, 2026.
The Annual General Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 19, 2026.
Webcast and conference call for analysts, investors and media
Kemira will arrange a webcast for analysts, investors and the media on Friday,
July 18, 2025, starting at 10.30 am EEST (8.30 am UK time). During the webcast,
Kemira's President & CEO Antti Salminen and CFO Petri Castrén will present
results. The webcast will be held in English and can be followed at
kemira.com/investors (https://www.kemira.com/company/investors/). The
presentation material and a recording of the webcast will be available on the
above-mentioned company website.
You can attend the Q&A session via conference call. You can access the
teleconference by registering on the following link:
https://palvelu.flik.fi/teleconference/?id=50050257
After registration you will be provided with phone numbers and a conference ID
to access the conference. If you wish to ask a question please dial *5 on your
telephone keypad to enter the queue.
For more information, please contact:
Kemira Oyj
Kiira Fröberg, Vice President, Investor Relations
Tel. +358 40 760 4258
kiira.froberg@kemira.com
Kemira is the global leader in sustainable chemical solutions for water
-intensive industries. We deliver tailored products and services to improve the
product quality, processes, and resource efficiency of our diverse range of
customers. Our focus is on water treatment, as well as on fiber and renewable
solutions - enabling sustainability transformation for our customers. In 2024,
Kemira reported annual revenue of EUR 2.9 billion with a global team of some
4,700 colleagues. Kemira is listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki www.kemira.com