Akzo Nobel reports first quarter 2024 results

Akzo Nobel, the global leader in varnishes and paints, has published its financial results for the first quarter of 2024, showing organic growth of 2% compared to the same period last year, despite a marginal decline in revenue of 1%. This performance is underpinned by sales volume growth in the paints and varnishes segments and profit margin expansion.

The company's revenue fell slightly to €2.64 billion, but operating income grew an impressive 43% to €261 million. Adjusted EBITDA also increased by 19% to €363m and adjusted EBITDA margin increased from 11.5% in 2023 to 13.8% in 2024.

Greg Poux-Guillaume, CEO of Akzo Nobel, said: "Our performance in the first quarter combines sales volume growth in the paints and lacquers segments with margin expansion, similar to the previous quarter. After volume growth of 2% in Q1, we are gearing up for further growth in areas where we see market opportunities, such as in the powder coatings segment, where we are adding new production lines."

The company recently completed a major investment project at its plant in Bac Ninh province, near Hanoi, Vietnam. This includes five new powder coatings production lines and a dedicated water-based products line for the consumer electronics market. This is an important step towards strengthening the company's position in Asia and a more sustainable production process.

Another notable milestone is reaching a new milestone in Latin America, where all of the company's manufacturing facilities are now running 100% on renewable energy, marking a significant advance in reducing carbon emissions across the value chain by 50% by 2030.

Akzo Nobel aims for 2024 to achieve adjusted EBITDA of between €1.5 and €1.65 billion and to reduce net debt to around 2.3x EBITDA by the end of the year.

Akzo Nobel was founded in 1792 and is active in more than 150 countries with major brands including Akzo Nobel, DULUX, Sikkens, Sadolin and Zweihorn. For further information, including consolidated financial statements, please consult the full quarterly report, available at on the company website.