Akzo Nobel, the parent company for Sadolin Paint, has announced global financial results for 2020 indicating strong growth despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
Among other positives, the company recorded a significant net cash increase of €1,220 million mainly coming from operating activities and €243 million of cost savings, of which €115 million structural savings.
The company also noted acquisitions of Titan Paints in Spain announced and New Nautical Coatings completed in the fourth quarter of 2020 among the highlights of what has been a tough year for many.
AkzoNobel CEO, Thierry Vanlancker, commented: “Our 2020 results demonstrate structural performance improvement from the first phase of our transformation. Despite COVID-19 headwinds, we rose to the challenge and delivered our 15 by 20 promise, achieving 15% return on sales and more than 20% return on investment.
“We continued to look after our customers and everyone at AkzoNobel deserves enormous credit for their passion and commitment, especially in such a challenging year. We’ve now achieved organic growth for two quarters in a row and announced acquisitions including Titan Paints in Spain and New Nautical Coatings in the US. We transformed our systems and processes and expanded our industry-leading Paint the Future innovation ecosystem. We’ve also accelerated our People. Planet. Paint. approach to sustainability and been recognized by key benchmarks as the leader in the paints and coatings industry.
“What’s really exciting is that we’re literally only half-way through our transformation to reclaim our position as the reference in the industry. Our new Grow & Deliver strategy represents the second stage of our journey – which began in 2017 – to double the profit of AkzoNobel.”
2021 Outlook
AkzoNobel targets to grow at least in line with its relevant markets. Although trends differ per region and segment with raw material inflation expected, margin management and cost-saving programs are in place to deliver 50 basis points increase in return on sales. The company targets a leverage ratio of 1-2 times net debt/EBITDA and commits to retain a strong investment grade credit rating.
