The Urethane Blog
September 26, 2024
BASF to cut dividend for next four years, shed non-core assets in overhaul
Sep. 26, 2024 7:25 AM ETBASF SE (BASFY) StockBFFAFBy: Carl Surran, SA News Editor
BASF (OTCQX:BASFY) -2.7% in Frankfurt trading Thursday after cutting its dividend and raising the possibility of splitting off some businesses, in a broad corporate overhaul that could include further plant closures in Germany as it grapples with weak demand in Europe.
New CEO Markus Kamieth outlined plans to sharpen BASF’s (OTCQX:BASFY) focus on its core operations and said the company will consider options for non-core businesses including battery materials, coatings and environmental catalyst, and metal solutions.
The new measures also include preparing for a possible listing of its agricultural unit, which makes crop protection products such as herbicides and fungicides, and reported ~€10B ($11.1B) in sales last year.
In addition to its portfolio adjustments, BASF (OTCQX:BASFY) said it plans to pay out an annual dividend of at least €2.25/share during 2025-28, down from €3.40/share it paid for 2023.
The company anticipates an aggregate dividend payment of ~€8B in the four-year period, while buybacks are expected to total ~€4B.
BASF (OTCQX:BASFY) said it forecasts EBITDA before special items of €10B-€12B in 2028, compared to €7.67B earned in 2023, and more than €12B in cumulative free cash flow during 2025-28 while reducing capital spending below depreciation from 2026, after a complex it is building in China begins operations.
The company said it is evaluating additional cost-cutting measures at its flagship Ludwigshafen site in Germany.
“Whilst its 2028 earnings targets are broadly in line with consensus, the reliance on mid/upcycle conditions with limited visibility in conjunction with the extent of the dividend reduction is likely to disappoint,” Jefferies analysts said.
September 23, 2024
Tempur Sealy issues an update on proposed Mattress Firm acquisition and divestitures
Sep. 23, 2024 7:01 AM ETTempur Sealy International, Inc. (TPX) StockBy: Clark Schultz, SA News Editor
Tempur Sealy International (NYSE:TPX) provided an update on Monday in regard to the company’s agreement to acquire Mattress Firm Group Inc. The deal is currently being challenged in federal court by the Federal Trade Commission.
The company said the litigation process continues to progress, with hearings currently scheduled to begin on November 12, and is expected to last about two weeks.
Looking ahead, Tempur Sealy (TPX) said it continues to believe that a successful litigation process can be completed in the coming months, which would allow the transaction to close in late 2024 or early 2025, consistent with previous expectations.
In connection with the planned Mattress Firm acquisition, Tempur Sealy (TPX) has entered into a purchase agreement with MW SO Holdings Company for the sale of 73 Mattress Firm retail locations and the company’s Sleep Outfitters subsidiary, which includes 103 specialty mattress retail locations and seven distribution centers. Tempur Sealy (TPX) will continue to supply its Tempur-Pedic, Stearns & Foster, and Sealy products to the divested Mattress Firm and Sleep Outfitters stores. The divestiture was noted to be subject to the closing of Tempur Sealy’s (TPX) acquisition of Mattress Firm and other customary closing conditions. It is expected to close approximately one quarter after the closing of the Mattress Firm transaction.
CEO statement: “As part of our engagement with the FTC on the proposed acquisition of Mattress Firm, we conducted a divestiture process, which led to an agreement with Mattress Warehouse, a company with extensive mattress retail experience, a strong capital base, and a capable leadership team.”
September 19, 2024
BASF to prepare agricultural business for IPO, Bloomberg reports
Sep. 19, 2024
BASF Agricultural Solutions
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# Companies in <2022 Seed Treatment Special> #
BASF, opens new tab plans to prepare its agricultural chemicals business for an initial public offering in the next few years as part of restructuring measures set to be announced by the group this month, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday.
BASF’s new CEO, Markus Kamieth, will announce a series of overhaul measures at a capital markets day set for Sept. 26-27, including plans for the future of its coatings business, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
While the agricultural chemicals business is to be prepared for a listing, the German firm could also signal its willingness to sell parts of the coatings business or bring in a partner.
BASF declined to comment on the report.
“We will publish information on our strategy next week at our capital markets day,” a company spokesperson said.
BASF shares were up 3.8% at 1445 GMT, the top gainer in the German DAX index, following the report.
According to Bloomberg, BASF could also announce plans for the further development of its battery materials business.
The proceeds from the sale of assets could be used to strengthen the balance sheet, according to the report.
In December last year, BASF announced plans to turn its agriculture, battery materials and coatings businesses into autonomous units in a bid to boost earnings.
However, previous CEO Martin Brudermueller said at the time that there was no intention to sell these businesses.
BASF’s Agricultural Solutions unit had about 10 billion euros in sales last year, competing with Bayer, Corteva, opens new tab and China’s Syngenta.
Since taking the top job in April, Kamieth has continued his predecessor’s push to reduce BASF’s reliance on subdued European markets, while building a 10-billion-euro ($11-billion) chemical complex in southern China to tap into faster growth in Asia.
BASF has said it is slowing down a major investment push for a global manufacturing and recycling network for battery materials amid a downturn in the electric vehicle segment.
September 19, 2024
Industry decries EPA’s formaldehyde analysis
By Larry Adams
September 17, 2024 | 12:57 pm CDT
In August, the Environmental Protection Agency released the finalized IRIS Toxicological Review of Formaldehyde that addressed the potential cancer and noncancer human health effects from inhalation exposure to formaldehyde.
Industry groups have questioned the methodology of the assessment, what they call “regulatory overreach,” and worry that the assessment will lead to additional regulations.
The assessment specifically focuses on the following health effects: sensory irritation; pulmonary function; immune system effects, focusing on allergic conditions and asthma; respiratory tract pathology; nervous system effects; reproductive and developmental toxicity; and cancer. For cancer, the assessment focuses on cancers of the upper respiratory tract (including nasopharyngeal
cancer, sinonasal cancer, cancers of the oropharynx/hypopharynx, and laryngeal cancer in humans) and of the lymphohematopoietic system (including Hodgkin lymphoma, multiple myeloma, myeloid leukemia, and lymphatic leukemia in humans).
Among the EPA’s findings were:
- Inhaled formaldehyde can cause health effects in humans, most notably respiratory effects. Children and those with respiratory disease appear to be most susceptible.
- Formaldehyde is carcinogenic to humans by the inhalation route of exposure.
Industry groups were quick to question the assessment. The National Association of Manufacturers, in an online policy post said The formaldehyde analysis risks “creat[ing] an unachievable standard and a de facto ban” on an essential manufacturing material
NAM added that the assessment maintains the formaldehyde threshold of 11 parts per billion proposed by the agency in 2022. That’s 30 times lower than Europe’s recently updated worker-exposure limit of 300 parts per billion and “lower than what can be found in homes or even background levels for outdoor air,” the NAM told the EPA.
The American Chemistry Council’s (ACC) Formaldehyde Panel issued the following statement on the IRIS Assessment of Formaldehyde:
“As required under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), any assessment of formaldehyde must begin with the best available science. This assessment fails that test and is therefore unfit for regulatory decision-making. EPA’s final assessment fails to reflect fundamental criticism from multiple peer review bodies or public comments provided by hundreds of experts, stakeholders, and other agencies. The Agency is on a path to ignore applicable scientific standards and procedural requirements, and issue unscientific and legally unsound regulatory actions based on this flawed assessment under TSCA and other laws later this year.
“If EPA continues on its current path, formaldehyde manufacturing and many of its downstream uses could be severely restricted or potentially banned in the U.S., with an overwhelmingly negative impact on the environment, human health, national security, and the economy.”
Groups with direct ties to the wood products industry also argued against the assessment. The Decorative Hardwoods Association (DHA) recently joined allies in a letter to members of Congress opposing the use of IRIS risk assessments in regulatory determinations. “Despite all of the comments and criticisms of the underlying assessment, the final assessment retains most of EPA’s original conclusions and no changes to the IRIS values,” wrote Keith Christman, president of the DHA, in a recent post
The Environmental Protection Agency’s final formaldehyde analysis does not mandate any new restrictions on industry, but may lead to a final risk evaluation that will.
Fighting IRIS
Congressman Glenn Grothman (R-WI) and Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) introduced the No Industrial Restrictions in Secret Act (No IRIS Act) to “reduce undue red tape” imposed by the EPA’S Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS). This bill is supported by the American Chemistry Council and a variety of other groups.
For instance, on September 9, the DHA, the Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association (KCMA), and the Composite Panel Association joined 50 other national associations in supporting the No Industrial Restrictions in Secret (NO IRIS) Act of 2024 (S. 3724/H.R. 7284).
The bill seeks to prohibit EPA from using Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) assessments for regulatory decisions. The IRIS program, which the congressman said “lacks Congressional authorization,” has previously influenced some of EPA’s chemical use restrictions. CPA supports this legislation to limit the potential for the formaldehyde IRIS assessment to be used to negatively impact the manufacturing and use of composite panels. Although the bill’s passage this year is unlikely, it helps raise awareness of the issue in Congress, according to the CPA.
Background
The EPA established the IRIS program in 1985 to gather data on how chemicals impact human health, however, it was never authorized by Congress.
IRIS has relied on flawed scientific data, disregarded relevant information, and dismissed public input. Despite the program’s inherent flaws, it creates chemical threshold assessments that have had devastating consequences for private industries.
“There needs to be a change in the way EPA conducts its business around scientific integrity and accountability in the way in which the federal government conducts chemical risk evaluations,” Grothman said.
September 16, 2024
2024 09 16T090703Z 1 LYNXMPEK8F07J RTROPTP 4 EUROPE WEATHER CENTRALEUROPE FLOODS CZECH
·6 hours ago
Central Europe factories and retailers shut in flood-hit areas
By Jan Lopatka
PRAGUE (Reuters) -Factories and stores across central Europe shut down production lines and closed their doors on Monday due to flooding that has killed at least 10 people, forced tens of thousands to evacuate and submerged towns from Poland to Romania.
In Ostrava – an industrial city of 290,000 people in northeast Czech Republic – the BorsodChem chemical plant was shut, a spokesperson for the company, partially owned by China’s Wanhua Chemical Group, said.
The OKK Koksovny coking plant – one of the largest producers of foundry coke in Europe – stopped chemicals production but was continuing to keep coking batteries heated to minimum levels, spokesman Jindrich Vanek said.
“There is water that has started rising and there must be a breach of the flood barriers,” he said. “We are without electricity and we are heating our batteries with coking gas, keeping them at technological minimum.”
Czech soft drinks maker Kofola CeskoSlovensko said it was pumping water out of its production facilities in Krnov, some 70 km (44 miles) from Ostrava, and would have a better view on the length of the outage early next week.
The company said it was premature to estimate damage and that it could cover supplies of most products from other plants.
Border areas between the Czech Republic and Poland were hit hard over the weekend, following days of heavy rain. Some bridges collapsed and homes were destroyed, while villages and towns in eastern Romania were submerged.
While rivers in the Czech-Polish border area were starting to recede on Monday, flooding was widening to more areas and leaving bigger cities in both countries on alert.
Veolia Energie has shut its Trebovice electricity and heating plant, which has cut hot water and heating supplies to large parts of Ostrava following flood damage, the company said in a statement.
“At the moment, the supply of heat and hot water in Ostrava is interrupted,” the company said. “The key technologies remained undamaged and therefore if the situation develops favourably we estimate the restoration of supplies in a few days.”
TRANSPORT PROBLEMS
An economist for Czech bank Ceska Sporitelna predicted industry in general would take a hit.
“Industry will receive a negative impulse of one or two percentage points, while the construction sector will receive a positive impulse… thanks to the reconstruction of damaged buildings and infrastructure,” Ceska Sporitelna Chief Economist David Navratil wrote.
The Czech Confederation of Industry said some companies not directly affected by the flooding still had to stop production in hard-hit regions because or problems transporting materials by rail.
Belgian firm Umicore said both its battery materials site in the Polish city of Nysa and its automotive catalysts facility in Nowa Ruda had been secured with limited impact from the floods.
Power utility Tauron said six of its hydroelectric plants in southern Poland were not working due to the floods.
More than 60,000 people were left without power on Monday morning, its press service said.
Polish retailer Zabka said around 80 outlets were currently closed, mainly in the area around the southwest town of Klodzko. The shops were closed due to flooding, lack of electricity or evacuation ordered by the emergency services, its press service told Reuters via email on Monday.
The retailer, owned by private equity fund CVC Capital Partners, added that it had provided water, provisions and transport support to its franchisees and was gathering information on their needs.
(Reporting by Tymon Miller and Michal Aleksandrowicz in Gdansk and Jan Lopatka in Prague; Writing by Michael Kahn; Editing by Alex Richardson)
https://business.express/central-europe-factories-and-retailers-shut-in-flood-hit-areas/
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