According to the company’s website news release on March 14, 2023, LyondellBasell hosts its Capital Markets Day at the New York Stock Exchange and is introducing its new long-term strategy which is aligned with the company's purpose of creating solutions for everyday sustainable living. The company expects to accelerate growth, expand margins and improve returns through its technology leadership, sustainable solutions, and sharp focus on favorable positions in attractive global markets. LyondellBasell is positioning itself to be the company of choice for financial, environmental, social and governance (ESG) minded investors, customers and brand owners. The company is doing this by shaping its businesses to use plastic waste as a valuable source of carbon and creating products and sustainable solutions using circular and renewable materials to address demand.
The new LyondellBasell strategy focuses on growing sustainable value and encompasses three key elements:
- Growing and upgrading the core: Growth will be focused on businesses where LyondellBasell has leading positions in expanding and well-positioned markets.
- Building a profitable Circular & Low Carbon Solutions (CLCS) business: LyondellBasell expects CLCS to grow to at least $1 billion in incremental EBITDA by 2030 with attractive returns by leveraging the company's existing strengths of scale, market access and technology leadership.
- Stepping up performance and culture: The company will drive improved results by shifting from a singular focus on cost control to a more comprehensive view of value creation and customer centricity.
The company's strategy is enabled by a value enhancement program (VEP) that is expected to deliver at least $750 million of recurring annual EBITDA improvement by year-end 2025. The VEP expands capacity through low-cost debottlenecks and improved reliability, reduces costs and emissions by saving energy, and increases margins through improvements in procurement, logistics and customer service.
"Our products are an essential part of a safe, healthy and more sustainable living, and I am confident our new strategy will unlock the true potential of our company," said Peter Vanacker, LyondellBasell CEO. "Our strategy is differentiated by our ability to effectively execute these three impactful elements all at once, driven by our passionate people and enabled by our technology leadership, our exceptional cash generation and strong balance sheet. We believe our core businesses have lasting advantages, and we will grow our advantage through highly focused and disciplined reinvestment. This will deliver strong profitable growth and deliver compelling returns to our shareholders."
While the new strategy was announced today, LyondellBasell began taking action on its new strategy in 2022 by:
- acting decisively to exit the refining business and divest its Australian polypropylene business;
- improving customer focus by forming its Customer and Commercial Excellence team;
- establishing the CLCS leadership role and business;
- implementing and expanding its VEP; and
- taking significant steps forward in its journey to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
While LyondellBasell intends to cease refining operations at its Houston Refinery, the company is evaluating future investments at the site. LyondellBasell is analyzing the potential to retrofit the refinery to build up its CLCS business, which will also keep jobs in the region and align with the company's strategy to leverage existing assets that are strategically located within the LyondellBasell portfolio.
Today, LyondellBasell also announces the decision to explore strategic options for its U.S. Gulf Coast-based ethylene oxide & derivatives (EO&D) business. While the EO&D business provides positive cash generation, it is not a business where the company seeks a leading long-term position. This decision is another example of how the company's new strategy has a laser focus on its core businesses.
With this new long-term direction, LyondellBasell aims to unlock value, increase earnings and continue providing strong returns for investors. LyondellBasell seeks to build businesses with enduring competitive advantages, sharpen its focus on leading positions, cement its position as the preferred supplier for customers, and establish the company as a profitable leader in the growing circular and low carbon solutions market.
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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
The statements in this release relating to matters that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially based on factors including, but not limited to, market conditions, the business cyclicality of the chemical, polymers and refining industries; the availability, cost and price volatility of raw materials and utilities, particularly the cost of oil, natural gas, and associated natural gas liquids; our ability to successfully implement initiatives identified pursuant to our value enhancement program and generate anticipated earnings; competitive product and pricing pressures; labor conditions; our ability to attract and retain key personnel; operating interruptions (including leaks, explosions, fires, weather-related incidents, mechanical failure, unscheduled downtime, supplier disruptions, labor shortages, strikes, work stoppages or other labor difficulties, transportation interruptions, spills and releases and other environmental risks); the supply/demand balances for our and our joint ventures' products, and the related effects of industry production capacities and operating rates; our ability to manage costs; future financial and operating results; our ability to recognize the benefits and synergies of any proposed transactions; legal and environmental proceedings; tax rulings, consequences or proceedings; technological developments, and our ability to develop new products and process technologies; our ability to meet our sustainability goals, including the ability to operate safely, increase production of recycled and renewable-based polymers to meet our targets and forecasts, and reduce our emissions and achieve net zero emissions by the time set in our goals; our ability to procure energy from renewable sources; the successful shut down and closure of the Houston Refinery, including within the expected timeframe; potential governmental regulatory actions; political unrest and terrorist acts; risks and uncertainties posed by international operations, including foreign currency fluctuations; uncertainties and impacts related to the extent and duration of the pandemic; and our ability to comply with debt covenants and to repay our debt. Additional factors that could cause results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in the "Risk Factors" section of our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, which can be found at www.LyondellBasell.com on the Investor Relations page and on the Securities and Exchange Commission's website at www.sec.gov. There is no assurance that any of the actions, events or results of the forward-looking statements will occur, or if any of them do, what impact they will have on our results of operations or financial condition. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they were made and are based on the estimates and opinions of management of LyondellBasell at the time the statements are made. LyondellBasell does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements should circumstances or management's estimates or opinions change, except as required by law.
This release contains time sensitive information that is accurate only as of the date hereof. Information contained in this release is unaudited and is subject to change. We undertake no obligation to update the information presented herein except as required by law.
INFORMATION RELATED TO FINANCIAL MEASURES
This release makes reference to certain non-GAAP financial measures as defined in Regulation G of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
We report our financial results in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("U.S. GAAP"), but believe that certain non-GAAP financial measures, such as EBITDA provide useful supplemental information to investors regarding the underlying business trends and performance of our ongoing operations and are useful for period-over-period comparisons of such operations. Non-GAAP financial measures should be considered as a supplement to, and not as a substitute for, or superior to, the financial measures prepared in accordance with GAAP. We calculate EBITDA as income from continuing operations plus interest expense, net, provision for (benefit from) income taxes, and depreciation and amortization. EBITDA should not be considered an alternative to profit or operating profit for any period as an indicator of our performance, or as an alternative to operating cash flows as a measure of our liquidity.
The $1B of incremental EBITDA for our CLCS business is incremental to LyondellBasell's fossil based Olefins & Polyolefins Americas and Olefins & Polyolefins Europe, Asia, International segments annual EBITDA. This measure cannot be reconciled to net income due to the inherent difficulty in quantifying certain amounts that are necessary for such reconciliation at the business unit level, including adjustments that could be made for interest expense, net, provision for (benefit from) income taxes and depreciation & amortization, the amounts of which, based on historical experience, could be significant.
About LyondellBasell
As a leader in the global chemical industry, LyondellBasell strives every day to be the safest, best operated and most valued company in our industry. The company's products, materials and technologies are advancing sustainable solutions for food safety, access to clean water, healthcare and fuel efficiency in more than 100 international markets. LyondellBasell places high priority on diversity, equity and inclusion and is Advancing Good with an emphasis on our planet, the communities where we operate and our future workforce. The company takes great pride in its world-class technology and customer focus. LyondellBasell has stepped up its circularity and climate ambitions and actions to address the global challenges of plastic waste and climate change. For more information, please visit www.lyondellbasell.com or follow @LyondellBasell on LinkedIn.
