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Dec 31, 2020

Celanese Q4 2020 Earnings Report

Reported strong Q4 2020 earnings and outlined a strong 2021 growth outlook.

Key Takeaways

Celanese Corporation reported a strong fourth quarter with GAAP diluted earnings per share of $12.50 and adjusted earnings per share of $2.09. Net sales for the quarter totaled $1.591 billion. The company is optimistic about 2021, expecting continued demand recovery and adjusted earnings of $9.50 to $10.00 per share for the full year.

Closed the transaction to monetize the Company's equity investment in the Polyplastics JV for cash proceeds of $1.6 billion.

Signed a memorandum of understanding to restructure the Korea Engineering Plastics Co. JV as a manufacturing JV that would give Celanese and its JV partner offtake rights to POM in Asia.

Resumed the project to expand the Clear Lake acetic acid capacity from 1.3 million tons to 2.0 million tons.

Announced the intent to build a world-scale liquid crystal polymer (LCP) polymerization plant in China to come online in 2024 to support growth across 5G, 'Internet of Things' and vehicle electrification applications.

Total Revenue
$1.59B
Previous year: $1.43B
+11.1%
EPS
$2.09
Previous year: $1.99
+5.0%
Gross Profit
$376M
Previous year: $316M
+19.0%
Cash and Equivalents
$955M
Previous year: $463M
+106.3%
Free Cash Flow
$181M
Previous year: $179M
+1.1%
Total Assets
$10.9B
Previous year: $9.48B
+15.1%

Celanese

Celanese

Celanese Revenue by Segment

Forward Guidance

Celanese expects first quarter 2021 adjusted earnings of $2.50 to $2.75 per share and full year 2021 adjusted earnings of approximately $9.50 to $10.00 per share.

Positive Outlook

  • Current demand conditions, including favorable Acetyl Chain industry dynamics, will persist through the first quarter
  • Contributions from our controllable actions including productivity
  • Turnaround schedules
  • Share repurchases
  • Fundamental demand recovery to date

Challenges Ahead

  • The pandemic remains a challenge to how we work
  • We closely monitor the current resurgence in the US and Europe
  • Unable to reconcile forecasted adjusted earnings per share growth to US GAAP diluted earnings per share without unreasonable efforts because a forecast of Certain Items, such as mark-to-market pension gains/losses, is not practical.
  • The extent to which COVID-19 pandemic continues to adversely impact the economic environment, market demand and our operations, as well as the pace of any economic recovery
  • Changes in general economic, business, political and regulatory conditions in the countries or regions in which we operate

Revenue & Expenses

Visualization of income flow from segment revenue to net income