Forecast for Key Data
|
|
|
||
|
2018 |
Forecast 2019 |
||
Core volume growth |
+1.6% |
Low-to-mid-single-digit percentage increase |
||
Free operating cash flow |
€1,669 million |
Between €300 million and €700 million |
||
ROCE |
+29.5% |
Between 8% and 13% |
Covestro Group
The following forecast for the 2019 fiscal year is based on the business development described in this Annual Report and takes into account the following potential risks and opportunities:
The Board of Management of Covestro AG presumes that despite an increasingly challenging market environment, Covestro will maintain its profitable growth course in 2019 and achieve a premium above the costs of capital.
We expect core volume growth in the low-to-mid-single-digit-percentage range. This trend is projected for both the Covestro Group and for the Polyurethanes, Polycarbonates and Coatings, Adhesives, Specialties segments.
We expect free operating cash flow (FOCF) to be between €300 million and €700 million in fiscal year 2019. For the Polyurethanes segment, we anticipate an increase in cash outflows for additions to property, plant, equipment and intangible assets which the expected operating cash flow will be insufficient to offset. We also expect FOCF to decline in the Polycarbonates segment, although the trend here is likely to be much more positive than for the Group overall. For the Coatings, Adhesives, Specialties segment, we expect FOCF around the prior-year level.
In 2019, we expect ROCE between 8% and 13%.
Covestro AG
The earnings of Covestro AG, as the parent company of the Covestro Group, largely comprise the earnings of that company’s subsidiaries. The earnings of the subsidiaries in Germany, especially Covestro Deutschland AG, are transferred to Covestro AG under profit and loss transfer agreements. The earnings of Covestro AG are therefore expected to reflect the business development anticipated in the Covestro Group. We want our stockholders to adequately participate in the Covestro Group’s earnings for fiscal 2019. We aim to increase the dividend annually, or at least to keep it at the previous year’s level. For 2019, we expect a net income of Covestro AG that will enable us to pay a corresponding dividend. The Board of Management and the Supervisory Board are proposing a dividend of €2.40 per share carrying dividend rights for the 2018 fiscal year to the Annual General Meeting.