Clariant Q1 Report 2024
Conrad Keijzer, CEO. Good afternoon, everyone and thank you for joining this call. Clariant delivered a good start to the year in the first quarter of 2024, with improved profitability driven by our performance programs and successful margin management in the deflationary environment. Our topline performance was impacted by stabilized volumes and lower pricing against a strong comparison base.
In the first quarter of 2024, we delivered sales of 1.014 billion Swiss Francs, representing a 6 % organic decrease in local currency, and an 11 % decrease including scope. Currency had an additional 5 % negative impact.
Sales were also impacted by stabilized volumes, with a 2 % volume increase in Care Chemicals offset by a 2 % decrease in Catalysts and 7 % decrease in Adsorbents & Additives.
In terms of profitability, EBITDA in the first quarter increased by 4 % year-on-year to 173 million Swiss Francs. This corresponded to a 17.1 % EBITDA margin, 320 basis points above the 13.9 % margin reported in the prior year.