INEOS Group Holdings S.A. (‘IGH’ or ‘INEOS’) announces its trading performance for the third quarter of 2017.
Based on unaudited management information INEOS reports that EBITDA for the third quarter of 2017 was €577 million, compared to €647 million for Q3, 2016 and €638 million for Q2, 2017. LTM September 2017 EBITDA was €2,526 million.
North American markets have continued to be strong, taking full benefit from their current feedstock advantage. Market conditions in Europe have remained good, supported by the continued weakness of the Euro. In addition, markets in Asia have seen some strength in the quarter.
Hurricane Harvey in August 2017 had a significant impact on the Group’s performance for the quarter. A number of the Group’s facilities in Texas were temporarily closed due to the hurricane, resulting in some lost production volumes, particularly in the O&P North America segment. The estimated reduction in EBITDA for the third quarter due to the hurricane was €50m. All of the plants are now back to full operations with the exception of one train at the Nitriles plant in Green Lake, Texas and an HDPE unit at Cedar Bayou, Texas.
O&P North America reported EBITDA of €216 million compared to €280 million in Q3, 2016. The business has continued to benefit from its flexibility to be able to utilise cheaper NGL feedstocks to maintain healthy margins. The US cracker business environment was solid with healthy margins and high operating rates throughout the quarter before the impact of Hurricane Harvey. Demand for automotive, pipe and other durable grades of polyethylene was strong, whilst polypropylene demand remained solid in a well-balanced market.
O&P Europe reported EBITDA of €196 million compared to €193 million in Q3, 2016. Demand for olefins in the quarter was solid in a tight market with healthy margins. Butadiene prices have now increased after their decline in the second quarter, supported by stronger demand from Asia. One of the cracker units at Koln started a scheduled major turnaround at the end of the quarter. European polymer demand was good in a balanced market, with solid volumes and healthy margins in the quarter. Demand has been further buoyed by strong demand from the USA to backfill supply shortages as a result of Hurricane Harvey.
Chemical Intermediates reported EBITDA of €165 million compared to €174 million in Q3, 2016. All of the businesses performed well in the quarter, with sustained good demand for products together with tight supply side conditions as a result of planned and unplanned competitor outages. The overall demand trend in the Oligomers business was strong in all product sectors and markets, most notably in the LAO and PAO segments. Demand for the Oxide business was balanced, with glycol markets showing some strength. Market conditions for the Nitriles business were strong due to a combination of strong underlying demand and supply limitations due to a number of industry outages in both China and the USA. Phenol markets remained solid in both North America and Europe, with some weakness in Asia.
The Group has continued to focus on cash management and liquidity. Net debt was approximately €5.0 billion at the end of September 2017. Cash balances at the end of the quarter were €1,451 million, and availability under undrawn working capital facilities was €362 million. Net debt leverage was approximately 2.0 times as at the end of September 2017.