Issue 21/2020 - Petrochemical giants at a glance

Evonik's adjusted EBITDA in the third quarter was €519 million, significantly higher than market expectations (analysts' consensus forecast: €471 million) and down just 4 percent
from the same period last year.
Adjusted EBITDA in the second quarter was still 19 percent
lower than in the same period last year.
Sales in the third quarter amounted to EUR 2.
92 billion (previous year: EUR 3.
23 billion).

Since January-September, the three growth business units of Specialty Additives, Nutrition & Consumer Chemicals, and Smart Materials have all demonstrated resilience to the crisis, achieving stable EBITDA and price performance
.

LG Chem's third-quarter operating profit increased 158.
7% y/y to KRW
902.
1 billion.
Sales were KRW 7.
5073 trillion, up 8.
8% year-on-year, both setting records for a single quarter
.
Specifically, the petrochemical business reported an operating profit of KRW 721.
5 billion, and the battery business achieved operating profit and sales of KRW 168.
8 billion and KRW 3.
1439 trillion,
respectively.
The Advanced Materials division achieved sales and operating profit of KRW 962.
9 billion and KRW
59 billion, respectively.
The Life Sciences business achieved an operating profit
of KRW 8.
5 billion.

BASF's operations performed better than expected in the third quarter, with sales falling by 5 percent to €13,812 million (up 9 percent from Q2 2020), mainly due
to unfavorable currency effects.
EBIT before special items amounted to €581 million, up €355 million from Q2 2020, higher than analysts' consensus forecast, but still lower than in the prior-year quarter (Q3 2019: €1,056 million).

EBIT amounted to negative €2.
6 billion, mainly due to
impairment without cash flow impact.
Sales are expected to be 57 billion ~ 58 billion euros in 2020, and EBIT before special items are expected to be 3 billion ~ 3.
3 billion euros
.

PPG's adjusted earnings for the third quarter are expected to be $1.
90~1.
94 per share, higher than the same period
in 2019.
PPG expects sales in the third quarter of 2020 to decline by about 5% compared to 2019, lower than the previously reported forecast of 6%~11%, and the lower-than-expected decline is partly due to the strong year-over-year sales growth
in PPG's global architectural coatings business.

Dow's third-quarter net sales were $9.
7 billion, down 10 percent year-over-year, primarily due to lower local prices due to lower
global energy prices.
Sales increased by 16%
in the quarter compared to the previous quarter.
Sales volumes decreased 1% year-over-year and increased 9%
sequentially.
Growth in all segments and regions was driven by improved
demand in the end markets of furniture and bedding, home appliances, packaging, construction and automotive.

COVESTRO volumes and earnings increased significantly in the third quarter, with core volumes up 3.
0 percent, particularly in Asia Pacific
, especially in China.
Group sales totaled approximately EUR 2.
8 billion (-12.
7%), EBITDA EUR 456 million (+7.
3%), net income of EUR 179 million (+21.
8%) and free operating cash flow of EUR 361 million (+48.
6%)
.

BP cut losses
significantly in the third quarter.
Net loss attributable to shareholders was $500 million, a significant decrease of about 97%
from a loss of $16.
8 billion in the first quarter.
In the third quarter of 2019, it was a loss of $700 million
.
In the third quarter, BP achieved a basic replacement cost profit of $100 million
.

SABIC's sales totaled 29.
3 billion riyals ($7.
81 billion) in the third quarter, up 19% sequentially and down 11%
year-on-year.
EBITDA was 5.
67 billion riyals ($1.
51 billion), up 62% sequentially and down 26%
year-on-year.
Operating income of 2.
10 billion riyals ($560 million) was higher than in the previous quarter (loss of 1.
26 billion riyals, or $340 million) and lower than the same period last year (3.
79 billion riyals, or $1.
01 billion).

Net income was 1.
09 billion riyals ($290 million), up from a net loss of 2.
22 billion riyals ($590 million) in the previous quarter and higher than a net profit
of 7.
4 billion riyals ($290 million) in the same period last year.

Corning's third-quarter sales and core sales were $3 billion
.
Core sales increased 16% sequentially, with Environmental Technologies and Specialty Materials up 68% and 37% sequentially, respectively.
Core sales increased 1% year-over-year, with special materials and display technologies up 23% and 4%,
respectively.
The strong financial and operational performance was driven by increased demand and the commercial application
of innovation.