Evonik Industries Ag (EVKIF) Q4 2025 Earnings Call

Investor webinar replay

Replay transcript excerpt

Thanks a lot and thanks everybody for joining our call today on such short notice. We've quite some news for you this afternoon and expect quite a few questions from you. So having said this, let's get right into it. To start, I would like to highlight three points. First, we've achieved our revised outlook for 2025. It was a tough finish in the last quarter, but we made it. Our EBITDA in the fourth quarter was solid enough to reach around 1.9 billion euros for the full year and our cash generation was more than just solid. We delivered almost 700 million euros of free cash flow, resulting in a 37 cash conversion rate, making the upper half of our guidance corridor. This demonstrates once more, no matter what the environment, we deliver on cash. Last year was not a great year, for sure. But given the environment, I would say we came away with a black eye. So, having said so, let's look ahead from there. And second, for 2026, we aim for broadly stable earnings at the midpoint of our guidance range, in an environment which remains tough. With normalizing the signing prices, delivering stable earnings, I guess, is a good thing. Klaus will elaborate further on this in a second. And third, the consistent execution of our strategy is, in this environment where challenges are everywhere, as crucial as never before. To be able to do this, we need more financial flexibility. This is why we present a new dividend policy today. which combines a still attractive dividend for investors with more financial flexibility for us. The support from IG Foundation on this change demonstrates their commitment to our success. More on this at the end of our prepared remarks. Before, ladies and gentlemen, I let Klaus dive into the more operational topics, I would like to make a case for Evoni...