- Slight decline in sales due to strong currency headwinds that outweighed organic growth
- Strong market position of the Liquid Crystals business unit confirmed due to further development of existing products and high degree of innovation
- Trend toward larger and higher-resolution television displays has a positive impact on the product mix of Liquid Crystals
- EBITDA pre margin rises sharply by more than three percentage points due to structural improvements in the Pigments & Cosmetics business unit and a favorable product mix in Liquid Crystals
| XLS |
|
Performance Materials | Key figures |
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€ million |
2013 |
2012 |
Change in % |
|
Total revenues |
1,644.4 |
1,675.6 |
–1.9 |
|
Sales |
1,642.1 |
1,674.2 |
–1.9 |
|
Operating result (EBIT) |
653.3 |
609.7 |
7.2 |
|
Margin (% of sales) |
39.8 |
36.4 |
|
|
EBITDA |
765.8 |
734.6 |
4.3 |
|
Margin (% of sales) |
46.6 |
43.9 |
|
|
EBITDA pre one-time items |
779.7 |
741.9 |
5.1 |
|
Margin (% of sales) |
47.5 |
44.3 |
|
|
Business free cash flow |
787.8 |
798.1 |
–1.3 |
Development of total revenues and sales as well as results of operations
For the Performance Materials division, 2013 was another very successful year. In comparison with 2012, a record year, sales increased organically by a further 3.0%. Taking into account currency headwinds of –4.9%, divisional sales decreased by –1.9% to € 1,642 million (2012: € 1,674 million), thus remaining at a high level. The adverse foreign exchange impact stemmed mainly from the Japanese yen, the Taiwanese dollar and the U.S. dollar.
The Liquid Crystals business unit, which accounts for more than 70% of divisional sales, increased its high market share, thus defending its market leadership in liquid crystal materials by continuously improving its flagship technologies. The Liquid Crystals business unit benefited from the shift in demand toward technically more complex liquid crystals. These include materials based on polymer-stabilized vertical alignment (PS-VA) technology, which are primarily used in large-sized, high-quality television displays.
In 2013, the Pigments & Cosmetics business unit achieved good organic sales growth thanks to higher demand for decorative pigments, above all the Xirallic® product family, which is used in particular in automotive coatings. The business unit recorded a slight increase in organic sales of functional materials.
The development of sales in the individual quarters in comparison with 2012 as well as the respective organic growth rates are presented in the following table:
Performance Materials | Sales and organic growth by quarter 1
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