Royal DSM has reported first quarter EBITDA of €311 million compared to €306 million in Q1 2012 and €243 million in Q4 2012. The improvement compared to Q1 2012 was realised despite a negative caprolactam effect of €65 million, the company noted.
This was achieved, according to DSM, in a context of uncertain global macro-economic conditions as the European economy remained weak, Asia continued to show good levels of growth whilst the US maintained its modest rate of recovery.
Life Sciences delivered growth once again, driven by Nutrition, while Materials Sciences performed well, except for caprolactam. During the quarter DSM benefited from the sale of certain DSM Resins & Functional Materials related distribution activities.
"In a challenging economic environment, I’m pleased to report a good start to the year with a robust performance,” said Feike Sijbesma, CEO/chairman of the DSM managing board. “Nutrition, which accounts for about 70% of group EBITDA, has proved the resilience and quality of its broad offering across the value chain, delivering another quarterly improvement in profitability, together with healthy margins.”
“Where the last two years were characterised by acquisitions, in 2013 we will fully focus on the operational performance and the integration of acquisitions, with special attention to capturing synergies whilst also ensuring the successful execution of our group-wide profit improvement initiatives,” he concluded. “We expect strong EBITDA growth in 2013, moving towards €1.4 billion."
