DSM reported solid full-year results in a challenging COVID-19 environment, led by good results in Nutrition and with a strong recovery in Materials in Q4. Group sales increased 1% and adjusted EBITDA was 1% lower.
“When faced with the unprecedented challenges from the pandemic, we remained determined to keep delivering for our customers, something that would not have been possible without the passion, resourcefulness and commitment of our exceptional colleagues. This enabled us to record good financial performance in our Nutrition business, while Materials was significantly impacted by COVID-19. In Q4, business conditions in Human Nutrition remained strong, while Animal Nutrition growth resumed after the mid-year destocking,” said Geraldine Matchett and Dimitri de Vreeze, co-CEOs. “We continued to make good progress on the execution of our long-term strategic plan, including three specialty nutrition acquisitions that enhance our offering to customers, the divestment of Resins & Functional Materials, and delivering against our purpose-led sustainability ambitions in people and planet. With our innovation-focused growth platforms, we are firmly on track to deliver strong sales and earnings growth in coming years.”
DSM took very early actions to ensure the health and safety of its employees and partners while keeping operations running to serve customers with its essential products. Overall COVID-19 had a slightly negative effect on group sales as Materials saw a negative impact of around 10% on volumes in the year due to reduced global demand in Q2 and Q3. Nutrition saw an overall slightly positive sales impact from COVID-19 mainly due to very strong demand in Human Nutrition for immunity-boosting products. DSM will continue to respond swiftly to COVID-19 health and safety developments and support the societies in which it operates.
At its Virtual Investor Event in November 2020, DSM reiterated its purpose-led, performance-driven growth strategy. In Nutrition, DSM sees significant headroom for business growth and innovation. The success of Nutrition’s unique business model combining “global products” and “local solutions” is evident in its track record of 6% organic sales growth and a 10% Adjusted EBITDA growth CAGR 2015-2020. Recent acquisitions such as CSK, Glycom and the Erber Group further strengthened DSM’s value proposition to customers. Going forwards, Nutrition will maintain strong growth by building on its “global products” and “local solutions” model. In addition DSM will add a third leg through driving precision and personalization, by building on big data, digital and bioscience capabilities.
