The performance of 23 chemical enterprises in the first quarter

1. BASF

Sales in the first quarter of 2022 increased by 19% year-on-year to eur 23,083 billion (EUR 19.4 billion in the first quarter of 2021), mainly due to price increases and the slight impact of monetary positives, mainly driven by the US dollar; Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) rose 21 per cent year on year to €2.8bn, driven by significant earnings growth in the chemicals business.

2. DOW

In the first quarter of 2022, the operating revenue of the company was 15.264 billion US dollars, with a year-on-year growth of 28.46%, and the net profit attributable to shareholders was 1.569 billion US dollars, with a year-on-year growth of 58.32%. Basic GAAP earnings per share of $2.12; GAAP net income was $1.6 billion; Operating EBIT was $2.4 billion, up $865 million year-over-year, with growth across all operating segments; Cash generated from operating activities (i.e., continuing operations) was $1.6 billion, an increase of $1.8 billion due to earnings growth and prior year selective pension expense; Free cash flow was $1.3 billion.

3. Honeywell

Sales in the first quarter of 2022 were $8.376 billion, down 1% year on year. Organic sales rose 1%, or 3% excluding the impact of a decline in respirator sales related to COVID-19; Net income of $1.134 billion; Segment margin increased 10 basis points to 21.1%, or 40 basis points excluding the impact of the newly merged Quantinuum Quantum Computing business; Adjusted earnings per share were $1.91, down 1% from a year ago.

4. Linde

Sales for the first quarter of 2022 were $8.2 billion, attributable to 9% underlying sales growth, including a 6% price increase and 3% higher volume growth, mainly from manufacturing, chemicals and energy end markets; Operating income was $1.5 billion, up 13%; Adjusted operating income was $1.9 billion, up 13% year-over-year, driven by higher prices, strong sales volumes and continued productivity improvements across all segments; Cash flow from operations was $2 billion, exceeding capital expenditures of $649 million, resulting in free cash flow of $1.3 billion.

5. Henkel

Sales in the first quarter of 2022 increased by 7.1% year-on-year to 5.271 billion euros (36.86 billion yuan), marking the first time since 2017 that the company's first-quarter sales exceeded 5 billion euros.  Adhesives and home care (Persil Persil Persil, Bref and All) grew 10.7 per cent and 4.9 per cent respectively, while beauty care sales fell 1.2 per cent.  

6. Covestro

Sales in the first quarter of 2022 increased 41.6% to eur4.7 billion, benefiting in particular from higher average selling prices; Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased 8.5% to €806 million; Free operating cash flow (FOCF) decreased 94.7% to EUR 17 million due to lower cash inflows from operating activities as more price-driven cash was tied up in working capital; Net profit rose 5.9 percent to 416 million euros.

7. Evonik

Q1 2022 sales rose 34% to 4.5 billion euros; Adjusted net income rose 49% to 356 million euros; Free cash flow of eur 133 million (same period 2021: EUR 312 million); Adjusted EBITDA rose 25 percent to 735 million euros.

8. Solvay

Net sales in the first quarter of 2022 exceeded 3.1 billion euros, a new quarterly record and an organic increase of 26.1% compared to the first quarter of 2021; Organic growth of 20% to eur 712 million in underlying EBITDA; In spite of strong sales growth resulting in higher working capital, eur 216 million of free cash flow, a conversion rate of 32.9%; Return on capital employed set a new record of 12.3 per cent, 477 basis points higher than last year; Structural cost savings of 22 million euros; The underlying EBITDA ratio was 23.3%; Underlying net profit was €369m, up 54 per cent year on year.

9. DuPont

Net sales for the first quarter of 2022 were $3.3 billion, up 9% year-over-year; Adjusted earnings per share of $0.82, up 19%; Operating EBITDA of $818 million, an increase of 2%; Return capital to shareholders of $544 million through share buybacks and dividends. Net sales in the electronics and industrial business were $1,536 million, an organic growth of 9%. The water Treatment and Protection business achieved organic growth of 10% in net sales of $1.429 billion.

10. Eastman

In the first quarter of 2022, sales revenue was $2.714 billion, EBIT was $333 million, adjusted EBIT was $366 million, and net cash flow from operating activities was $17 million

11. Wacker

In the first quarter of 2022, it achieved sales of 2.08 billion euros, up 53% year-on-year and 23% quarter-on-quarter, mainly due to higher selling prices and favorable product mix effects; EBITDA of eur 644 million; Operating profit more than doubled from the same period last year (258 million euros), and EBITDA increased 26% from the previous quarter (510 million euros), mainly due to higher selling prices and favorable product mix effects, as well as the streamlining measures being implemented within the Group to reduce costs; EBIT was €550 million, more than three times that of the same period last year (€166 million), with an EBIT margin of 26.5% (12.2% in q1 2021); Net profit of eur 403 million (EUR 118 million in Q1 2021); Eps was €7.92 (€2.29 in Q1 2021).

12. Huntsman

In the first quarter of 2022, operating revenue was $2.389 billion, net income was $240 million, adjusted net income was $256 million and adjusted EBITDA was $415 million.

13. LG Chem

Sales in the first quarter of 2022 were 11.6081 trillion won, up 20.4% year-on-year and 6.0% quarter-on-quarter; Operating profit was 1.0243 trillion won, down 27.3 percent year-on-year and up 36.9 percent month-on-month. The petrochemical business generated 5.96 trillion won in sales and 634.6 billion won in operating profit. The sales and operating profit of the high-tech materials business were 1.5680 trillion won and 153.8 billion won respectively. Its life science business posted 217.4 billion won in sales and 32.2 billion won in operating profit. LG's new energy business generated 4.34 trillion won in sales and 258.9 billion won in operating profit. Farm Hannong posted 260.8 billion won in sales and 40.8 billion won in operating profit.

14. Shell

In the first quarter of 2022, operating revenue was us $84.204 billion, and net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company was US $7.116 billion, up 25.7% year on year; Adjusted earnings on a non-GAAP basis were $9.13 billion, higher than consensus of $8.67 billion, up 1.8 times year-over-year and 43% quarter-on-quarter, setting an all-time high, driven by higher crude oil and gas prices, strong refining earnings and strong trading performance; Adjusted EBITDA was $19.028 billion, up 16% quarter-on-quarter.

15. Exxon Mobil

Revenue for the first quarter of 2022 was $90.5 billion, up 53% from the same period last year; Diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $2.07, up nearly 46% year-over-year; Net income attributable to the company's shareholders was $5.48 billion, roughly double the $2.75 billion of the same period last year, including a $3.4 billion charge related to the elimination of the Sakhalin-1 project in Russia. Excluding that charge and excluding certain items, adjusted net income was $8.833 billion.

16. Chevron

Revenue in the first quarter of 2022 was $54.37 billion, compared with $32.03 billion in the same period last year; Profit was $6.3 billion, up about 3.6 times from a year earlier.

17. Total Energies

Q1 2022 net profit of us $4.9 billion, down 15% year on year, due to a US $4.1 billion loss from Russian LNG development Arctic LNG 2, which was affected by sanctions; Adjusted net income tripled to $9bn.

18. BP

Net profit for the first quarter of 2022 was -20.38 billion US dollars, compared with 4.667 billion US dollars in the same period last year, mainly due to a loss of 25.5 billion US dollars related to its decision to exit its stake in Rosneft in February. BP has held a 19.75 percent stake in Rosneft since 2013.

19. PPG

Record net sales of $4.308 billion in the first quarter of 2022, up 11%; Selling prices rose 10%; Sales fell 3 per cent; Pre-tax profit of $78 million, down 539.74%; Net income was $18m, down 95 per cent; Earnings per diluted share were $0.08 and adjusted earnings per diluted share were $1.37.

20. AkzoNobel

In the first quarter of 2022, it achieved sales of 2.525 billion euros, up 12% year on year; Operating profit of eur232 million, down 23%; Net profit for the parent group was 154 million euros, down 29.03 percent year on year. The decline in net profit was mainly due to rising raw material prices and freight costs.

21. Celanese

Net sales reached an all-time high of $2.5 billion, up 12% month-on-month, thanks to increases of 12% month-on-month in volume and 1% month-on-month in price. Consolidated operating profit of $531 million and adjusted EBIT of $713 million, both record highs; GAAP diluted earnings per share were $4.61 and adjusted earnings per share were $5.54.

22. Arkema

Sales in the first quarter of 2022 were 2.9 billion euros, up 30% year on year, of which specialty materials accounted for 90%; EBITDA was eur619 million, up 72.9% year on year; EBITDA margin increased sharply to 21.4%; Adjusted net income rose 2.4 times to 376m euros, or 4.96 euros a share.

23. Syngenta

Operating revenue for the first quarter of 2022 increased by US $1.8 billion to US $8.9 billion from the same period last year, a year-on-year increase of 26%; EBITDA increased $400 million to $1.9 billion from the same period last year, up 25% from the same period last year. Revenue from the Modern Agricultural Technology Services Platform (MAP) business more than doubled to $650 million. By the end of the first quarter of 2022, the total number of MAP technical service centers in China reached 514 (an increase of 149 from the end of the first quarter of 2021), with an average operating revenue growth of 57% year-on-year. MAP provides farmers with solutions that increase yields and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.