Covestro is celebrating its first anniversary. The materials manufacturer has been standing on its own for twelve months now and can take pride in its rapid development. Following its official separation from the Bayer Group on September 1, 2015, the former Bayer MaterialScience established itself on the international capital market with the largest stock market flotation in Germany since 2000. The past 12 months were extremely gratifying for Covestro from a financial standpoint.
“We have completed a complex transformation and shown what we are capable of achieving. We are very proud of that,”said global CEO Patrick Thomas.“An XL startup, Covestro has developed to the great satisfaction of its customers, investors and other stakeholders.”
Thomas pointed out that the operating result (adjusted EBITDA) has increased each quarter since the company became independent. Relative to the issue price, the share price has doubled from EUR 24 to EUR 48 now.
To make the world a brighter place
The company's colorful new identity is also visible in North America, where Covestro has operations in eleven locations across the United States and Mexico.
Thomas is pleased that employees all around the world have a high appreciation for Covestro and are living the new corporate values with such enthusiasm.
“We are curious, courageous and colorful. That is our foundation for providing products, technologies and solutions that push boundaries and make the world a brighter place,”he said.
To this end, the company is focusing even more intensely on innovation and anchoring sustainability at every level. The objective is to conserve the environment, advance society and, at the same time, create economic value. The company has therefore established a series of challenging and measurable targets it wants to achieve by 2025. For example, Covestro plans to halve greenhouse gas emissions per metric ton of product produced relative to 2005.
The company is also breaking new ground when it comes to carbon dioxide. In 2016, Covestro brought a new plant onstream at its Dormagen, Germany, site, where carbon dioxide is being used for the first time as a raw material. A CO2-based precursor for the production of polyurethane foam for mattresses and upholstered furniture will soon make its market debut.
Many new products and ideas
“A perfect example of how Covestro combines sustainability and innovation,”said CEO Thomas.“We will have plenty more along these lines on display at K 2016, the world's largest plastics trade fair, in Düsseldorf this October. One highlight is a new vehicle concept intended to promote electric mobility. For the first time ever, all of the glazing is made of polycarbonate.”
Covestro has also gleaned valuable insights for the further development of its products and potential new applications from the Solar Impulse mission – the around-the-world flight completed in July in an ultra-lightweight aircraft powered only by the sun. Covestro designed the cockpit and provided a highly efficient insulating material, without which the flight would not have been possible. Covestro will continue to work with the Solar Impulse founders in the future to promote clean technologies.
