Despite the difficult economic environment, Clariant maintains profitability in the first three quarters of 2020

In the third quarter, Care Chemicals sales fell just 1% in local currencies, supported by growth in the Consumer Care business
.
Catalyst sales were also down 1% compared to the previous year's strong performance
.
In local currency, sales of natural resources fell by 14%, mainly due to lower consumption of oil and oil derivatives hindering sales in the oil and mining services business unit
.

EBITDA from continuing operations fell to CHF 127 million, corresponding to a margin of 14.
2%, down slightly from 14.
5% in the previous year
.
Profitability in both the Care Chemicals and Catalysts business areas improved due to a more favorable product mix, cost control and improved efficiency
.
In the natural resources business, the decline in profit margins was attributed to lower sales in sectors affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, such as automotive, textiles and especially oil, which internal performance measures could not fully compensate for
.

Discontinued business

In the first three quarters, sales from discontinued operations fell by 25% in local currencies and 31% in Swiss francs
.
However, based on the same category comparison, excluding the performance of medical packaging in the first three quarters of 2019 and the performance of masterbatches in the third quarter of 2019 (the two businesses have been divested), despite the weak economic environment, sales were only down in local currency year-on-year 4%, and 11% in Swiss francs
.

In the first three quarters of 2020, the absolute value of EBITDA from discontinued operations was positively impacted by the revenue from the divestiture of the masterbatch business in the third quarter, as well as by the one-time effect of the pigment business efficiency improvement project in the second quarter and the divestiture of discontinued operations in the second quarter.
negative impact on cost
.

Outlook - The fourth quarter of 2020 is expected to continue to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but with a slight improvement over the third quarter
.
Performance-enhancing measures to drive above-market growth, higher profitability and stronger cash generation in the product mix in the medium term

In the fourth quarter of 2020, Clariant expects the Covid-19 outbreak to have a continued impact on sales and profitability, to a lesser extent than in the third quarter
.

Group working groups will continue to focus on employee safety, community support, ensuring business continuity and cash generation
.
Clariant's three core specialty business areas will continue to execute performance improvement plans to deliver resilient performance during this period and above-market growth, higher profitability and stronger cash generation in the medium term
.

In addition, the group is reshaping its product portfolio through a series of initiatives, such as the divestiture of the medical packaging business in October 2019 and the sale of the masterbatch business in July 2020
.
The group is also advancing the planned divestiture of the pigment business and is preparing for a company size adjustment
.
The transformed Clariant will become a focused, sustainable and innovative specialty chemical company, aiming to achieve above-market growth and thus higher profitability based on its three core specialty business areas
.