Half Year 2023 Arkema SA Earnings Call Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Aron Ceccarelli - Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG, Research Division - Analyst : I have 3. So the first one is on Advanced Materials. It's nice to see volumes down 8% after being down 20% in Q1 despite it's fair to say slightly easier comps. So maybe can you comment a little bit on what are the moving parts here? And what should we expect going into the second half of the year? And the other one is again on Advanced Materials. It's nice to see margins holding up well. Maybe it would be good to understand how much you should progress going forward here, especially considering that you are now talking about higher raw materials decline compared to the original expectations? The second one is on working capital. I still see that actually inventory is still quite high and receivable higher year-over-year. Should we expect working capital to remain at a similar level into H2? And the final one is on your cost, excluding raw mats. SG&A as a percentage of sales was 9.1%. You're talking now about further cost initiatives. I would be interested to understand really what are the levers you have here for further cost cutting?

Question: Jaideep Mukesh Pandya - On Field Investment Research LLP - Analyst : A few questions. Firstly, on PVDF. Thierry, could you give us some indication of what sort of volume growth do you see in the second half versus first half, and then into '24 based on sort of your customer feedback? It seems like volumes have stabilized. So -- and then Chinese prices have, on a reference level, also stabilized. So do you expect price stability in your portfolio as well for H2 and into 2024? That's my first question. The second question is on coatings. We've seen now a few quarters where your volumes have been down in the 20s where your customer volumes are stabilizing and customers are also upgrading raw material guidances. So do you think that in the second half this year into '24 we'll see some restock in coatings from your coatings customers? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. JULY 28, 2023 / 9:00AM, AKE.PA - Half Year 2023 Arkema SA Earnings Call And then the third question really is on the portfolio. I mean, well done on the PI acquisition. But do you see any meaningful opportunities in either coatings or adhesives, which are sort of in the league of Ashland, which could come your way in the next sort of 12 months or so? These are my questions.

Question: Jaideep Mukesh Pandya - On Field Investment Research LLP - Analyst : Well done for being the only company not to warn in the sector.