After a very weak start to the third quarter of 2023, the sales and earnings development of the PCC Group showed an upward trend over the course of the quarter. This cautious upward trend continued beyond the turn of the quarter, too. The PCC Group’s quarterly sales fell again slightly compared to the previous quarter, by 6.4% to €220.1 million. Nine-month sales were €768.0 million, a significant decrease of 22.8% compared to the extraordinarily successful previous year.
“Fortunately, the results of the third quarter improved again on all earnings levels compared to the previous quarter, although, as expected, the record values of 2022 were clearly missed,” explains Ulrike Warnecke, board member of PCC SE. Earnings before financial results, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounted to €14.8 million in the third quarter and €79.3 million in the first nine months, a decline of almost 60% compared to the previous year.
“Demand from some industrial sectors increased slightly but remained at a low level due to the weak economy,” says Ulrike Warnecke. “At the same time, competitive pressure from China remained high.” The Silicon & Derivatives segment continued to be particularly hard hit by this. But the business development of the three chemical segments Polyols & Derivatives, Surfactants & Derivatives and Chlorine & Derivatives was also affected by cheap offers from China. “However, this also affected the European industry as a whole,” says Ulrike Warnecke.
The aforementioned Group financials are unaudited. Detailed information on PCC’s business performance in the second quarter can be found in the PCC Group Quarterly Report 3/2023. Go here for a PDF download.
