Results first half 2023

 Regulated information – 28 August 2023 – 08:00

Financial results

During the first half year of 2023, Campine’s sales revenue amounted to € 173 million, which is an increase of approximately 11% compared to the first semester of 2022. The EBITDA amounted to € 16.7 million, a rise of 24% compared to last year, which is the best result ever for Campine for the first six months of the year. The 2023 intermediate figures include our French entities that were acquired early July 2022 from the Recylex Group. The growth in sales is mostly contributed by the new French activities.

The rise in EBITDA is also mainly attributable to the French entities, whilst the Beerse plant equalled the good results of 2022. “In addition to the integration work in the new French entities, we were quite agile to steer the business of our Specialty Chemicals division during difficult general economical circumstances with a substantial drop in demand for chemicals and consequently a collapse of the prices” explains CEO De Vos. Campine managed however to maintain its profit margins in this division and was able to benefit from a strong lead price and favourable conditions in the market for scrap batteries in its Circular Metals division. “Compared to last year, profitability is now more coming from lead battery recycling, which shows that our diversification strategy is paying off!” adds De Vos.

Results per division/segment

Specialty Chemicals division

Market and Operations

• The turnover in the Specialty Chemicals division amounted to € 68.3 million, a global decrease of almost 10% compared to 2022 and a reduction of approximately 20% for the Beerse perimeter. This drop is due to reduced sales and lower metal prices. The turnover contribution of the French activities reached approximately € 7.5 million.
• The EBITDA fell to € 3.8 million (2022: € 6.2 million).
• The FR Masterbatches BU, which produces specialized fire-retardant compounds for plastics and textiles, even experienced a drop in demand of more than 30%, but nevertheless continued to contribute positively to the EBITDA.

Circular Metals- division

Market and Operations

• The turnover augmented to € 125.2 million (+33% compared to 2022), an increase that can be almost fully allocated to the € 34 million turnover of the French activities.
• The EBITDA rose to € 12.9 million compared to € 7.3 million in 2022.

Outlook 2023

Campine is once again anticipating a particularly good result for 2023, possibly matching the 2022 record figures. This will of course depend on the evolution of metal prices and the revival of the demand for chemical products.

We expect that the drop in demand In the Specialty Chemicals division has reached its bottom. Most safety stocks throughout the supply chain seem back to historical lows and a return to normal demands is expected soon. Antimony prices started to increase again as of mid August.

The price of lead on the London Metal Exchange experienced a small dip in July, but we expect relative stability due to balanced supply and demand. Better commercial conditions make it possible to offset the increased costs due to inflation. So we expect a strong year for the Circular Metals division.

The full press release and interim financial report is available on our website : Investors/shareholder information

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