Although many plastic manufacturers were hit hard last year by the energy crisis, the Russo-Ukraine war, and China’s epidemic prevention policy, the focus on specialization and new business saved EMS Group.
The polyamide specialist reported a 4.6% drop in pre-tax profit to 611 million Swiss francs (619 million euros) in 2022, with net profit down 3.3% to 535 million Swiss francs. Sales, on the other hand, climbed by 8.3 percent to a new record of CHF 2.44 billion due to higher selling prices, despite negative exchange rate effects.
The primary business segment of Performance Polymers, which mainly benefited from a greater focus on specialties, performed slightly better than the secondary segment of Specialty Chemicals, which was more affected by the negative economic environment. Last year, sales in the high-performance segment rose 8.8% to 2.19 billion Swiss francs, while profit before tax fell 4.2% to 548 million Swiss francs, slightly below the group as a whole. EBIT for specialty chemicals fell 7.9 percent to 63 million Swiss francs, while sales rose 4.3 percent to 254 million Swiss francs.
Ems expects the economy to remain weak in 2023. Still, the company expects sales and pre-tax profit in 2023 to be slightly higher than last year’s levels. Management forecasts a positive tailwind from investments in increased capacity and energy efficiency at Dormat’s headquarters and elsewhere, especially in China.
Considering electric vehicle production in China, Chief Executive Magdalena Matullo-Bloch said China offered strong growth potential, with emerging markets now accounting for 15 percent of its revenue. She pointed out that sooner or later China will overtake Germany as its most important sales market, where its turnover currently accounts for 20 percent of its total revenue, she noted.
Separately, the company announced an upcoming management change – Urs, head of the Ems-Services division, Domat site manager since 2019
Janssen will join the Group Executive Board on March 1, 2023. His successor in his current position will be Didier Griting. Additionally, Chief Financial Officer Oliver
Flühler plans to leave the company in mid-May. His responsibilities will be taken over on an interim basis by Peter Germann, who served as chief financial officer until 2017.
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