Umicore reports that its revenues for the first six months of 2020 were €1.6 billion, a reduction of 4% year on year.
Revenues were down in the company’s Catalysis business, and due to car OEMs assembly line shutdowns, Umicore says that it had to stop production at the majority of its automotive catalyst plants for several weeks which this had a severe impact on earnings.
Revenues in its Energy & Surface Technologies were impacted by a contraction of the global EV market as well as lower activity levels in other key end-markets, Umicore said.
However, Recycling recorded strong results reflecting increased activity levels, higher metal prices and favorable trading conditions, while Umicore’s Precious Metals Refining business reportedly benefitted from a supportive supply environment and a higher availability of the Hoboken smelter compared to the first half of 2019, when the smelter underwent an extended planned maintenance shutdown of seven weeks.
‘Given the current evolution of the pandemic and the uncertainty it creates in Umicore’s key end-markets, it remains impossible to provide a reliable quantified outlook for 2020,’ a press release said. ‘Based on the market developments in the first half and recent trends, Umicore continues to expect global car production to be down by approximately 25% for the full year. In this scenario, revenues and adjusted EBIT in Catalysis in the second half would be well above those of the first half. However, the ongoing uncertainty caused by the pandemic and the weak consumer confidence make it impossible to predict market developments.’
This story uses material from Umicore, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.
