STA, 9 March 2022 - Chemical company Cinkarna Celje, which specialises in titanium dioxide production, posted a net profit of EUR 33.2 million for 2021, a year-on-year increase of 75%. Driven by exports, sales rose by 12% to EUR 192.5 million, according to an unaudited report released on Wednesday.

Profit before income tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was up by 58% to EUR 51.8 million and operating profit (EBIT) surged by 77% to EUR 40 million.

The company says the increase in sales was driven by robust demand in all markets and the total value of exports reached EUR 175.1 million, up 11% year-on-year.

"There is currently a shortage of titanium dioxide supply on the market, which is reflected in year-on-year increases in prices," the press release says.

While significantly higher prices of titanium dioxide in Asia have generated higher demand for products from western multinationals and local producers, input-side pressure also increased, driving up the prices of raw materials.

Going forward, the company sees "high uncertainty" due to the current geopolitical situation. Higher energy prices in Europe than in Asia and North America "could have a stronger impact on the competitiveness of the supply of European producers," it says.

However, the company has a significant cash buffer, with cash assets rising by 59% to EUR 59.7 million at the end of the year.

STA, 19 November 2020 - Chemicals company Cinkarna Celje generated EUR 130.4 million in sales revenue in the first nine months of this year, a 3% decrease year-on-year. Net profit fell by 27% to EUR 13.8 million, shows the company's report released on Thursday.

Sales of titanium dioxide pigment, Cinkarna Celje's flagship product, were up by 4.8% compared to the same period last year, but average selling prices were 4.6% below those in the comparable period in 2019, the company said. Results for other programmes, apart the agro line, were below last year's levels.

CEO Aleš Skok assessed that the decrease in revenue was minimal given the circumstances, with sales reaching 75% of the target for the entire year.

The impact of Covid-19 was mitigated by the absence of Chinese producers on the European market at the beginning of the year, which reflected in more demand for pigment in the first quarter. However, after that, a drop in production and stocks accumulated by buyers led to a drop in sales in the second quarter. The situation improved again in the third quarter along with the epidemiological situation.

Cinkarna Celje spent EUR 8.8 million on investment in the first nine months, which is 44% of the sum planned for the year. The company said non-urgent investment and maintenance was suspended during the epidemic, but that it was also usual that most investment payments fell into the final part of the year.

Skok wrote that the key focus remained on titanium dioxide pigment and the "rationalisation of the portfolio of strategic business areas which is focused on the core programme and the phasing out of non-profitable activities".

He added that the financial side of things remained conservative in line with tradition. The company is stable financially and can meet all obligations undisturbed and on time.

The management believes that original targets for this year - a revenue of EUR 174.2 million and a net profit of EUR 14.1 million - are still attainable in case there is no significant deterioration in the epidemiological situation.

STA, 26 August 2020 - Cinkarna Celje, the Celje-based chemical company, saw its net profit plummet by 21% in the first half of the year to EUR 9.9 million while revenue was down 4% to EUR 88.7 million. Operating revenue decreased by 22% year-on-year, show the company's unaudited results, released on Wednesday.

Cinkarna Celje said that the sales revenue has reached 51% of the planned total for this year, while it warned that it changed is valuation system for stocks of finished products this year. This boosted net profit in the first half by 2.35 million, the company explained, adding the effect of the new validation would be neutralised in the second half.

CEO Aleš Skok assessed that given the current circumstances the sales drop had been minimal. The impact of Covid-19 was mitigated by the absence of Chinese producers on the European market at the beginning of the year.

"Reduced production and increased stocks with buyers affected sales negatively in the second quarter," Skok said, while assessing the drop was smaller than was the average on the titanium dioxide market.

Cinkarna spent EUR 5.6 million on investment in the first six months, which is less then a third of the planned amount.

The management of Cinkarna, whose financial situation remains stable, assessed that the results were objectively good and in line with projections.

The return of Chinese competition and the cooling of the global economy could impact results in the second half, but Cinkarna feels the targetted EUR 174.2 million in in total revenue for the year and EUR 14.1 million in net profit are still attainable.

STA, 20 November 2019 - Chemical company Cinkarna Celje generated a net profit of EUR 15.9 million by the end of the third quarter. Although 91% above plans, the figure was also 43% lower year-on-year. Net revenue stood at EUR 134.8 million, 1% more than in the same period the previous year.

"The management believes that the business results are very good in objective terms," says a business report published on Wednesday, which also notes that the company expected to see a net profit of EUR 8.3 million for the first nine months.

Last year, the company posted a record profit of EUR 30.6 million and by the end of the third quarter, profit had already soared to EUR 27.9 million.

Operating profit dropped by 44% over the same period last year to EUR 18.7 million. Exports reached EUR 119.4 million, 3% more than in the first three quarters of last year.

Cinkarna had no financial debt and recorded a total of EUR 27.7 million in deposits, which was 20% less than at the end of September 2018 and 17% less than at the end of 2018.

Its main product is titanium dioxide pigment, whose price has been falling in Europe and Asia due to the US-China trade wars, the company says in the report.

Protectionist measures by the US allow US producers to set higher prices, thus the price of the pigment on the US market has grown by about 5%. As a result, Chinese-made pigment is uncompetitive in the US and is therefore channelled to the European markets, pushing down prices.

STA, 4 June 2019 - The shareholders of the chemical company Cinkarna Celje agreed at Tuesday's general annual meeting to allocate nearly the entire distributable profit for dividends at EUR 28.27 gross per share, or a total payout of EUR 22.8 million, the company's CEO Tomaž Benčina told the STA.

The shareholders also authorised the board to buy treasury shares in the total amount of up to 10% of the group's share capital, with the authorisation valid for a year. The buyback price was set between EUR 170 and EUR 270.

The shareholders had already authorised the management board to start implementing its buyback strategy last year, setting the price between EUR 250 and EUR 300 as proposed by the biggest shareholder, insurer Modra Zavarovalnica.

The insurer owns 20% of the group's shares, followed by the Bank Assets Management Company (12.83%) and Slovenian Sovereign Holding (11.41%). All of them agreed to amend the group's statute following last year's decrease in share capital.

The shareholders also took note of the resignation of supervisor Urška Podpečan, effective as of 1 April. She will be replaced by lawyer Luka Gaberščik from Ljubljana. The supervisory and management boards were granted a discharge of liability for the past business year.

Cinkarna Celje generated EUR 45.5 million in net sales revenue in the first quarter of 2019, a 13% decrease compared to the same period last year. Its net profit dropped by 64% to EUR 4.6 million. Despite the declines, both figures exceeded the group's expectations.

November 28, 2018

Two sub-sites on the grounds of Cinkarna Celje have been classified as having “serious contamination” with “remediation urgently required” in a report issued by CDM Smith on November 27, following the examination of surface water from the Hudinja and Ložnica rivers to assess their chemical burden prior to and after the rivers passage along Cinkarna Celje production site’s boundaries.

Although the measurements of Ložnica river contamination showed agreement with the assumed arsenic source, the existence of other currently unknown arsenic source areas along the Hudinja have to be taken into consideration. The report also calls for further investigation, which is required for a detailed assessment of the impact due to on-site zinc and chlorobenzene contaminated groundwater at two locations.

The contamination of the Cinkarna Celje area predates its current production of titanium dioxide pigment. From 1873 till 1968 the plant was mainly involved in metallurgy (Cinkarna means zinc plant), the industry responsible for the serious ongoing pollution of the site. Moreover, a major part of the current production facilities of Cinkarna was built on top of waste that had been generated throughout the 140 years of its operation.

Although several sub-sites were declared seriously contaminated, the two responsible for the contamination migration in connection to their ecological impact on the two rivers require, says the report, hydraulic containment measures to be taken immediately.