– Business review – Chemtech
Strong order and sales growth across all regions and higher profitability
Note: If not otherwise indicated, changes from the previous year are based on currency-adjusted figures.
The Chemtech division recorded very strong order growth of 20.8% in the first half of 2022. All regions contributed to the growth, particularly EMEA and the Americas. Sales in the division rose by a significant 9.2%, despite local lockdowns in China, and profitability increased by 80 basis points to 9.9%. Chemtech is seeing high demand for its products in all segments, particularly in the Renewables segment where the division’s strategy to drive growth continues to gain momentum.
High demand for Renewables offering
The division continues to pursue its strategy of driving growth in the Renewables segment and is seeing high demand across its entire offering — biobased chemicals, biobased polymers, polymer recycling and decarbonization. Together these businesses represented 12.0% of the overall Chemtech order intake in the first half of the year, with this figure expected to rise in the mid to long term. The division secured an abundance of small to mid-size projects across all of its Renewables businesses, showing that the strategy is bearing fruit, with larger projects also in advanced stages of discussion.
For example, the Chemtech division is enabling the creation of Indaver’s first polystyrene and polyolefin plastic recycling plant, which is being constructed in Antwerp, Belgium. The Plastic2chemicals (P2C) facility will leverage Sulzer’s advanced processing technologies to prevent end-of-life plastic from entering the environment and produce 26’000 tonnes of high-grade, widely used chemicals every year. The project is a key milestone in the division’s strategy to expand its Renewables businesses.
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We are seeing strong growth in all our regions, with high demand for our products across all segments. Our strategy to develop our Renewables business is gaining further momentum with an increasingly diverse range of small, mid-sized and larger projects in the pipeline for our entire Renewables offering.”
Torsten WintergersteDivision President Chemtech
Key figures Chemtech (January 1 – June 30)
|
millions of CHF |
|
2022 |
|
2021 |
|
Change in +/–% |
|
+/–% adjusted 1) |
|
+/–% organic 2) |
|
Order intake |
|
437.1 |
|
353.9 |
|
23.5 |
|
20.8 |
|
20.9 |
|
Order intake gross margin |
|
29.6% |
|
30.3% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Order backlog as of June 30 / December 31 |
|
519.7 |
|
433.2 |
|
20.0 |
|
|
|
|
|
Sales |
|
342.0 |
|
305.6 |
|
11.9 |
|
9.2 |
|
9.8 |
|
EBIT 3) |
|
–5.3 |
|
21.1 |
|
n/a |
|
|
|
|
|
Operational profit |
|
33.8 |
|
27.7 |
|
22.2 |
|
18.4 |
|
18.6 |
|
Operational profitability |
|
9.9% |
|
9.1% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Employees (number of full-time equivalents) as of June 30 / December 31 |
|
3’048 |
|
3’734 |
|
–18.4 |
|
|
|
|
1) Adjusted for currency effects.
2) Adjusted for acquisition and currency effects.
3) Impacted by write-offs related to Russia.
Strong order growth
Orders grew 20.8% in the first half of the year. The increase was supported by all regions and market segments. Regionally, the Americas and Europe, the Middle East and Africa performed exceptionally well, demonstrating high double-digit growth rates. The Asia-Pacific region was also able to achieve solid order growth, despite local lockdowns in China.
Order intake by market segment
H1 2022
Order intake by region
H1 2022
Rising sales and profitability
Sales in the first half of the year grew by 9.2%, with all regions contributing to the growth despite global supply chain difficulties and local lockdowns temporarily halting activities at our factory in China. Operational profitability increased by 80 basis points to 9.9% thanks to a trend towards higher-value projects, efficiency gains and continued discipline in execution.