Against the backdrop of severe disruptions to society and business caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Umicore demonstrated its resilience to extreme shocks and the complementarities of its business activities. In the first half of 2020 Umicore achieved financial results broadly in line with those of the same period in 2019, with a very strong performance in recycling offsetting the impact of the downturn in the automotive industry on the results of Catalysis and Energy & Surface Technologies.
Umicore revenues for the first 6 months amounted to € 1.6 billion (-4 percent year on year) and the adjusted EBIT[1] amounted to € 243 million, up 1 percent compared to the first half of 2019. Adjusted EBITDA increased 5 percent to € 376 million.
Considering the unforeseen disruptions caused by COVID-19 in several of its key end-markets, Umicore is reassessing its production footprint as well as the carrying value of certain assets. As part of this assessment, Umicore decided to consolidate its North American automotive catalyst production activities in Burlington, Canada and discontinue its automotive catalyst production in Tulsa, U.S. Umicore has also impaired certain tangible and intangible assets. As Umicore continues to reassess its footprint and monitor the value of certain assets, additional cash and non-cash adjustments may be required in the second half of the year of a similar or somewhat higher size than those booked in the first half.
Published in the September 2020 Edition