PCC SE: PCC Group posts good start to fiscal 2023, with Group sales reaching €313 million in the first quarter of 2023

Duisburg (pta034/17.05.2023/17:12) - Duisburg-based investment holding company PCC SE posted a good start to fiscal 2023, although results remained below last year's record figures, in line with our expectations. Group sales reached €312.6 million in the first quarter, down 9.5% year on year. "The first quarter of 2023 was characterized by lower sales volumes and prices caused by lower demand and increasingly strong competition from various countries outside Europe", said Ulrike Warnecke, Member of the Executive Board of PCC SE. "Fortunately, most purchase prices of raw material inputs were also on the decline in the first quarter of 2023, and consequently our gross margin came in even higher than expected, at 35.8 %," she continued.

In absolute terms, the PCC Group generated a gross profit of €111.8 million in the first quarter of 2023, down 13.0 % on the first quarter of the 2022 record year. Earnings before interest/financial result, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounted to €53.8 million in the first quarter, a 29.0 % decrease compared to the corresponding period of last year. Operating income (EBIT) was down 40.3 % to €34.6 million, while earnings before tax (EBT) decreased from €51.1 million to €18.1 million. By contrast, operating cash flow improved year on year, from €28.6 million to €68.2 million as at the reporting date of March 31, 2023.

Highlights from the Group segments

In the first quarter of 2023, the Chlorine & Derivatives segment was once again, by some considerable distance, the main revenue and earnings generator within the PCC Group. The Chlorine business unit of PCC Rokita SA, the largest company within the PCC Group, made by far the largest contribution to this outcome. Although average sales prices for chlorine products declined, they remained at a high level overall. The Polyols & Derivatives and Surfactants & Derivatives segments also performed well and managed to navigate through increasing competition, particularly from China. By contrast, the Silicon & Derivatives segment continued to incur losses due to a price slump brought about in mid-2022 by rising competition, primarily from China. After a weak start in January 2023, the Logistics segment gained considerable traction in the following months and closed the quarter in profit.

Progress of current investment projects

The oxyalkylates plant in Malaysia, which is currently under construction and which we are implementing within the framework a joint venture with PETRONAS Chemicals Group Berhad, continued to make progress as planned in the first quarter of 2023. The production plant with an annual capacity of 70,000 metric tons is scheduled to come on stream in the third quarter of 2023. In the Renewable Energies project sector, we were pleased to pass an important milestone in the first quarter, when after long delays, our fifth small hydropower plant in North Macedonia received its final operating licence. Together with a small hydropower plant in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the PCC Group now operates a total of six of these environmentally friendly power plants in the region.

Redemption of maturing bullet bond

On April 1, 2023, PCC SE repaid on maturity the 4.00% bond carrying the code ISIN DE000A2G8670, which was issued in January 2018. The redemption amount was €21.8 million.

The aforementioned Group financials are unaudited. This quarterly report is available online at https://www.pcc-financialdata.eu.

Profile of PCC SE

Headquartered in Duisburg, Germany, PCC SE is the parent and investment holding company of the globally active PCC Group with its approx. 3,400 employees. Its Group companies have core competencies in the production of chemical feedstocks and specialty chemicals, silicon and silicon derivatives, and in container logistics. An investor committed to the longer term, PCC SE concentrates on continuously increasing the enterprise value of its portfolio companies through sustainable investments and the ongoing creation of new value. The largest chemical producers of the PCC Group are PCC Rokita SA, a major chlorine manufacturer and Eastern Europe's leading producer of polyols, and PCC Exol SA, one of Europe's most advanced surfactant manufacturers. PCC BakkiSilicon hf. operates in Iceland one of the world's most modern and climate-friendly silicon production facilities. PCC was founded in 1993 by Waldemar Preussner, sole shareholder of PCC SE, who today holds the position of Chairman of the Supervisory Board. The PCC Group generated consolidated sales of around € 1.3 billion and earnings before interest/financial result, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of some € 292.0 million in fiscal 2022, with capital expenditures in the same year amounting to around € 116.3 million. For further information on PCC, please refer to: https://www.pcc.eu.

(Ende)