Independent Auditor’s Report

To Covestro AG, Leverkusen

Report on the Audit of the Consolidated Financial Statements and of the Combined Management Report

Opinions

We have audited the consolidated financial statements of Covestro AG, Leverkusen, and its subsidiaries (the Group) – which comprise the consolidated income statement and consolidated statement of comprehensive income for the financial year from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020, the consolidated balance sheet as at 31 December 2020, and the consolidated statement of cash flows and the consolidated statement of changes in equity for the financial year from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020 as well as the notes to the consolidated financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. In addition, we have audited the combined management report of Covestro AG for the financial year from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020 including the non-financial statement in accordance with Section 315b (1), 315c HGB [Handelsgesetzbuch: German Commercial Code]. In accordance with German legal requirements, we have not audited the content of those components of the combined management report specified in the "Other Information" section of our auditor’s report.

The management report contains cross-references marked as unaudited and not required by law. In accordance with German legal requirements, we have not audited the content of these cross-references or the information to which they refer.

In our opinion, on the basis of the knowledge obtained in the audit,

• the accompanying consolidated financial statements comply, in all material respects, with the IFRSs as adopted by the EU, and the additional requirements of German commercial law pursuant to Section 315e (1) HGB [Handelsgesetzbuch: German Commercial Code] and, in compliance with these requirements, give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, and financial position of the Group as at 31 December 2020, and of its financial performance for the financial year from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2020, and
• the accompanying combined management report as a whole provides an appropriate view of the Group’s position. In all material respects, this combined management report is consistent with the consolidated financial statements, complies with German legal requirements and appropriately presents the opportunities and risks of future development. Our opinion on the combined management report does not cover the content of those components of the combined management report specified in the "Other Information" section of the auditor’s report. In accordance with German legal requirements, we have not audited the content of those components of the combined management report specified in the "Other Information" section of our auditor’s report.

Pursuant to Section 322 (3) sentence 1 HGB [Handelsgesetzbuch: German Commercial Code], we declare that our audit has not led to any reservations relating to the legal compliance of the consolidated financial statements and of the combined management report.

Basis for the Opinions

We conducted our audit of the consolidated financial statements and of the combined management report in accordance with Section 317 HGB and the EU Audit Regulation No. 537/2014 (referred to subsequently as “EU Audit Regulation”) and in compliance with German Generally Accepted Standards for Financial Statement Audits promulgated by the Institut der Wirtschaftsprüfer [Institute of Public Auditors in Germany] (IDW). We performed the audit of the consolidated financial statements in supplementary compliance with the International Standards on Auditing (ISAs). Our responsibilities under those requirements, principles and standards are further described in the “Auditor’s Responsibilities for the Audit of the Consolidated Financial Statements and of the Combined Management Report” section of our auditor’s report. We are independent of the group entities in accordance with the requirements of European law and German commercial and professional law, and we have fulfilled our other German professional responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. In addition, in accordance with Article 10 (2) point (f) of the EU Audit Regulation, we declare that we have not provided non-audit services prohibited under Article 5 (1) of the EU Audit Regulation. We believe that the evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinions on the consolidated financial statements and on the combined management report.

Key Audit Matters in the Audit of the Consolidated Financial Statements

Key audit matters are those matters that, in our professional judgment, were of most significance in our audit of the consolidated financial statements for the financial year from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020. These matters were addressed in the context of our audit of the consolidated financial statements as a whole, and in forming our opinion thereon, we do not provide a separate opinion on these matters.

• Recoverability of the carrying amount of goodwill and of assets with determinable useful lives

The accounting policies as well as the assumptions made are disclosed in the notes to the consolidated financial statements in note 3. Disclosure of the amount of goodwill is provided in the notes to the consolidated financial statements in note 15 with explanations with respect to the business development of the operating segments included in the combined management report in the chapter "Performance of the Reportable Segments".

THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT RISK

In the consolidated financial statements of Covestro AG Goodwill, Other intangible assets, and Property, plant and equipment amount to EUR 5,5 billion in total. These items account for a significant portion of the Group’s noncurrent assets and for 43% of the Group’s total assets. Of these items, Goodwill amounts to EUR 255 million for the financial year 31 December 2020.

A central impairment test is carried out, when there is an indication of impairment for an asset. Goodwill is also tested annually for impairment. To this end, the carrying amount of the individual Cash Generating Units (CGU) is compared with their recoverable amount. If the carrying amount exceeds the recoverable amount of the respective CGU, an impairment is recorded. Initially the impairment reduces the carrying amount of goodwill and then the carrying amount of the other assets of the CGU.

The goodwill impairment test for CGU is complex and is based on a number of judgmental assumptions. These include, among others, the expected business and earnings development of the CGU for the upcoming years, the assumed long-term growth rates and the discount rate used.

The financial year 2020 was characterized by the significant negative economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting strong decline in global economy. Due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, the year 2021 is expected to be a challenging year for the global economy. Despite these special circumstances, there are also signs of improvement of future business prospects in the company’s main customer’s industries from 2021 onwards. As a result of the impairment test carried out by the company, no need for the recording of an impairment was identified. However, the Company’s sensitivity analyses indicated that a reasonably possible change in the expected cash flows, the discount rate or in the long-term growth rate of the CGU Polyether polyols and Thermoplastic Polyurethanes would lead to an impairment.

There is the risk for the financial statements that required impairments were not identified. In addition, there is the risk that the disclosures in the notes associated herewith are not complete and appropriate.

OUR AUDIT APPROACH

We initially obtained an understanding of the Company’s process for assessing the recoverability of the carrying amount of goodwill and of assets with determinable useful lives on the basis of explanations provided by the accounting and controlling departments as well as by assessing documentation.

Subsequently, with the support of our valuation specialists, we have assessed the appropriateness of the significant assumptions as well as company’s valuation model. This included a discussion of the expected development of the business and results as well as of the assumed underlying long-term growth rates with those responsible for the planning process. In addition, reconciliations were made with other internally available forecasts as well as with the financial planning prepared by the Executive Board and approved by the Supervisory Board. Furthermore, we also assessed the consistency of the assumptions with external market expectations, by utilizing economic reports from recognized industry institutes as well as analyst assessments.

Moreover, we assessed the Company’s planning accuracy by comparing projections for previous financial years with the actual results realised and analysed deviations. We have compared the assumptions and parameters underlying the discount rate – in particular the risk-free rate, the market risk premium and the beta factor – with own assumptions and publicly available information.

To provide for the mathematical accuracy of the valuation model utilised, we recalculated the Company’s calculations.

To reflect the existing uncertainty with respect to forecasts for the impairment test, we have assessed reasonably possible changes of the discount rate, the expected earnings respectively the long-term growth rate on the recoverable amount (sensitivity analysis) by calculating alternative scenarios and comparing these with the Company’s valuation results.

Finally, we assessed whether the disclosures in the notes with respect to the recoverability of the carrying amount of the goodwill are appropriate. This also included an assessment as to the appropriateness of the disclosures in the notes pursuant to IAS 36.134(f) with respect to sensitivities resulting from reasonably possible changes of key assumptions underlying the valuation.

OUR OBSERVATIONS

The underlying valuation model used in the impairment test of goodwill is appropriate and consistent with the applicable accounting principles. The Group’s assumptions and data underlying the valuation are within an acceptable bandwidth and are, on the whole, acceptable. The disclosures in the notes associated herewith are complete and appropriate.

Other Information

Management and the Supervisory Board are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the following unaudited parts of the combined management report:

• the Declaration on Corporate Governance included in the chapter “Declaration on Corporate Governance” of the combined management report,
• the information included in the chapter “Sustainability in the Supply Chain” of the combined management report that is marked as unaudited and a part of the non-financial statement, and
• information extraneous to management reports and marked as unaudited.

The other information also includes the remaining parts of the annual report.

The other information does not include the consolidated financial statements, the combined management report information audited for content and our auditor’s report thereon.

Our opinions on the consolidated financial statements and on the combined management report do not cover the other information, and consequently we do not express an opinion or any other form of assurance conclusion thereon.

In connection with our audit, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in so doing, to consider whether the other information

• is materially inconsistent with the consolidated financial statements, with the combined management report information audited for content or our knowledge obtained in the audit, or
• otherwise appears to be materially misstated.

If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. We have nothing to report in this regard.

In addition, we were engaged to perform a separate assurance engagement on the supplementary sustainability information. Regarding the type, scope and results of that assurance engagement, we refer to our assurance report dated 18 February 2021.

Responsibilities of Management and the Supervisory Board for the Consolidated Financial Statements and the Combined Management Report

Management is responsible for the preparation of the consolidated financial statements that comply, in all material respects, with IFRSs as adopted by the EU and the additional requirements of German commercial law pursuant to Section 315e (1) HGB and that the consolidated financial statements, in compliance with these requirements, give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position, and financial performance of the Group. In addition, management is responsible for such internal control as they have determined necessary to enable the preparation of consolidated financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the consolidated financial statements, management is responsible for assessing the Group’s ability to continue as a going concern. They also have the responsibility for disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern. In addition, they are responsible for financial reporting based on the going concern basis of accounting unless there is an intention to liquidate the Group or to cease operations, or there is no realistic alternative but to do so.

Furthermore, management is responsible for the preparation of the combined management report that, as a whole, provides an appropriate view of the Group’s position and is, in all material respects, consistent with the consolidated financial statements, complies with German legal requirements, and appropriately presents the opportunities and risks of future development. In addition, management is responsible for such arrangements and measures (systems) as they have considered necessary to enable the preparation of a combined management report that is in accordance with the applicable German legal requirements, and to be able to provide sufficient appropriate evidence for the assertions in the combined management report.

The Supervisory Board is responsible for overseeing the Group’s financial reporting process for the preparation of the consolidated financial statements and of the combined management report.

Auditor’s Responsibilities for the Audit of the Consolidated Financial Statements and of the Combined Management Report

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and whether the combined management report as a whole provides an appropriate view of the Group’s position and, in all material respects, is consistent with the consolidated financial statements and the knowledge obtained in the audit, complies with the German legal requirements and appropriately presents the opportunities and risks of future development, as well as to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinions on the consolidated financial statements and on the combined management report.

Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with Section 317 HGB and the EU Audit Regulation and in compliance with German Generally Accepted Standards for Financial Statement Audits promulgated by the Institut der Wirtschaftsprüfer (IDW) and supplementary compliance with the ISAs will always detect a material misstatement. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these consolidated financial statements and this combined management report.

We exercise professional judgment and maintain professional skepticism throughout the audit. We also:

• Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements and of the combined management report, whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinions. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal controls.
• Obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit of the consolidated financial statements and of arrangements and measures (systems) relevant to the audit of the combined management report in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of these systems of the Group.
• Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used by management and the reasonableness of estimates made by management and related disclosures.
• Conclude on the appropriateness of the management’s use of the going concern basis of accounting and, based on the audit evidence obtained, whether a material uncertainty exists related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the Group’s ability to continue as a going concern. If we conclude that a material uncertainty exists, we are required to draw attention in the auditor’s report to the related disclosures in the consolidated financial statements and in the combined management report or, if such disclosures are inadequate, to modify our respective opinions. Our conclusions are based on the audit evidence obtained up to the date of our auditor’s report. However, future events or conditions may cause the Group to cease to be able to continue as a going concern.
• Evaluate the overall presentation, structure and content of the consolidated financial statements, including the disclosures, and whether the consolidated financial statements present the underlying transactions and events in a manner that the consolidated financial statements give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and financial performance of the Group in compliance with IFRSs as adopted by the EU and the additional requirements of German commercial law pursuant to Section 315e (1) HGB.
• Obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence regarding the financial information of the entities or business activities within the Group to express opinions on the consolidated financial statements and on the combined management report. We are responsible for the direction, supervision and performance of the group audit. We remain solely responsible for our opinions.
• Evaluate the consistency of the combined management report with the consolidated financial statements, its conformity with German law, and the view of the Group’s position it provides.
• Perform audit procedures on the prospective information presented by management in the combined management report. On the basis of sufficient appropriate audit evidence we evaluate, in particular, the significant assumptions used by management as a basis for the prospective information, and evaluate the proper derivation of the prospective information from these assumptions. We do not express a separate opinion on the prospective information and on the assumptions used as a basis. There is a substantial unavoidable risk that future events will differ materially from the prospective information.

We communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control that we identify during our audit.

We also provide those charged with governance with a statement that we have complied with the relevant independence requirements, and communicate with them all relationships and other matters that may reasonably be thought to bear on our independence, and where applicable, the related safeguards.

From the matters communicated with those charged with governance, we determine those matters that were of most significance in the audit of the consolidated financial statements of the current period and are therefore the key audit matters. We describe these matters in our auditor’s report unless law or regulation precludes public disclosure about the matter.

Other Legal and Regulatory Requirements

Report on the Assurance in accordance with Section 317 (3b) HGB on the Electronic Reproduction of the Consolidated Financial Statements and the Group Management Report Prepared for Publication Purposes

We have performed assurance work in accordance with Section 317 (3b) HGB to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the reproduction of the consolidated financial statements and the group management report (hereinafter the “ESEF documents”) contained in the file that can be downloaded by the issuer from the electronic client portal with access protection, „covestroag-2020-12-31.zip“ (SHA256-Hashwert: a9e84028dcb02434ddc515a3b5cda50f7652e44c2263bb463b9f546 e31912d42), and prepared for publication purposes complies in all material respects with the requirements of Section 328 (1) HGB for the electronic reporting format (“ESEF format”). In accordance with German legal requirements, this assurance only extends to the conversion of the information contained in the consolidated financial statements and the group management report into the ESEF format and therefore relates neither to the information contained in this reproduction nor any other information contained in the above-mentioned electronic file.

In our opinion, the reproduction of the consolidated financial statements and the group management report contained in the above-mentioned electronic file and prepared for publication purposes complies in all material respects with the requirements of Section 328 (1) HGB for the electronic reporting format. We do not express any opinion on the information contained in this reproduction nor on any other information contained in the above-mentioned file beyond this reasonable assurance opinion and our audit opinion on the accompanying consolidated financial statements and the accompanying group management report for the financial year from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020 contained in the “Report on the Audit of the Consolidated Financial Statements and the Group Management Report” above.

We conducted our assurance work on the reproduction of the consolidated financial statements and the group management report contained in the above-mentioned electronic file in accordance with Section 317 (3b) HGB and the Exposure Draft of the IDW Assurance Standard: Assurance in accordance with Section 317 (3b) HGB on the Electronic Reproduction of Financial Statements and Management Reports Prepared for Publication Purposes (ED IDW AsS 410) and the International Standard on Assurance Engagements 3000 (Revised). Accordingly, our responsibilities are further described below. Our audit firm has applied the IDW Standard on Quality Management 1: Requirements for Quality Management in Audit Firms (IDW QS 1).

The company’s management is responsible for the preparation of the ESEF documents including the electronic reproduction of the consolidated financial statements and the group management report in accordance with Section 328 (1) sentence 4 item 1 HGB and for the tagging of the consolidated financial statements in accordance with Section 328 (1) sentence 4 item 2 HGB.

In addition, the company’s management is responsible for the internal controls they consider necessary to enable the preparation of ESEF documents that are free from material intentional or unintentional non-compliance with the requirements of Section 328 (1) HGB for the electronic reporting format.

The company’s management is also responsible for the submission of the ESEF documents together with the auditor’s report and the attached audited consolidated financial statements and audited group management report as well as other documents to be published to the operator of the German Federal Gazette [Bundesanzeiger].

The supervisory board is responsible for overseeing the preparation of the ESEF documents as part of the financial reporting process.

Our objective is to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the ESEF documents are free from material intentional or unintentional non-compliance with the requirements of Section 328 (1) HGB. We exercise professional judgement and maintain professional scepticism throughout the assurance work. We also:

• Identify and assess the risks of material intentional or unintentional non-compliance with the requirements of Section 328 (1) HGB, design and perform assurance procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain assurance evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our assurance opinion.
• Obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to the assurance of the ESEF documents in order to design assurance procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an assurance opinion on the effectiveness of these controls.
• Evaluate the technical validity of the ESEF documents, i.e. whether the electronic file containing the ESEF documents meets the requirements of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/815 on the technical specification for this electronic file.
• Evaluate whether the ESEF documents enable an XHTML reproduction with content equivalent to the audited consolidated financial statements and the audited group management report.
• Evaluate whether the tagging of the ESEF documents with Inline XBRL technology (iXBRL) enables an appropriate and complete machine-readable XBRL copy of the XHTML reproduction.

Further Information pursuant to Article 10 of the EU Audit Regulation

We were elected as auditor by the annual general meeting on 30 July 2020. We were engaged by the Audit Committee of the Supervisory Board on 10 August 2020. We have been the group auditor of Covestro AG without interruption since financial year 2018.

We declare that the opinions expressed in this auditor’s report are consistent with the additional report to the audit committee pursuant to Article 11 of the EU Audit Regulation (long-form audit report).

German Public Auditor Responsible for the Engagement

The German Public Auditor responsible for the engagement is Dr. Markus Zeimes.

Düsseldorf, 19 February 2021

KPMG AG
Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft

[Original German version signed by:]