Ingevity Q1 2025 Earnings Call Transcript

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May 6, 2025
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Operator

Good morning or good afternoon all, and welcome to the Ingevity First Quarter twenty twenty five Earnings Call and Webcast. My name is Adam, and

Operator

I'll be your operator today.

Operator

I will now hand the floor to John Nyparber to begin. Sir, John, please go ahead when you are ready.

John Nypaver
John Nypaver
VP of Investor Relations & Treasurer at Ingevity

Thank you, Adam. Good morning, and welcome to Ingevity's first quarter twenty twenty five earnings call. Earlier this morning, we posted a presentation on our investor site that you can use to follow today's discussion. It can be found on ir.ingevity.com under Events and Presentations. Also throughout this call, we may refer to non GAAP financial measures, which are intended to supplement, not substitute for, comparable GAAP measures.

John Nypaver
John Nypaver
VP of Investor Relations & Treasurer at Ingevity

Definitions of these non GAAP financial measures and reconciliations to comparable GAAP measures are included in our earnings release and are also in our most recent Form 10 ks. We may also make forward looking statements regarding future events and future financial performance of the company during this call, and we caution you that these statements are just projections and actual results or events may differ materially from those projections as further described in our earnings release. Our agenda is on Slide three. Our speakers today are David Lee, our CEO and Mary Dean Hall, our CFO. Representing our businesses today and available for questions and comments are Rich White, President of Performance Chemicals Michael Shukoff, President of Advanced Polymer Technologies and Jonathan MacGyver, VP of Global Commercial for Performance Materials.

John Nypaver
John Nypaver
VP of Investor Relations & Treasurer at Ingevity

Will provide introductory comments, Mary will follow with a review of our consolidated financial performance and the business segment results for the first quarter. Dave will then provide closing comments and discuss 2025 guidance. With that,

John Nypaver
John Nypaver
VP of Investor Relations & Treasurer at Ingevity

over to you, Dave.

David Li
David Li
President and CEO at Ingevity

Thanks, John, and good morning, everyone. The company delivered a strong first quarter, reflecting the priorities we've outlined in previous earnings calls, including driving increased profitability, generating strong free cash flow and improving leverage. Our results demonstrate meaningful progress on those commitments, including our fourth consecutive quarter of year over year margin expansion. This quarter was an example of the best in class profitability Ingevity is capable of, and I believe we're just getting started.

David Li
David Li
President and CEO at Ingevity

I'd also like to take a moment to share how excited I am to be here today. As some of you know, I've spent my career in the specialty chemicals and materials industry and was most recently the CEO of a specialty materials company that was primarily focused on semiconductors as an end market. What drew me to Ingevity was the incredible potential that I see in the company, our people and our products and technology. I'd also like to thank and acknowledge the Board, particularly Luis Fernandez Moreno, who acted as Interim CEO and Ingevity employees for planning a seamless and thoughtful transition. I felt welcome from day one, and I look forward to what we can accomplish together.

David Li
David Li
President and CEO at Ingevity

Also, as announced at our recent annual meeting, Bruce Hoechner, who has served on our Board since 2022, has been elected as Chair, succeeding Gene Blackwell. Jean will remain on the Board and I want to express my deep appreciation for her leadership and ongoing support. I'm also excited to work with Bruce in his expanded role. Lastly, I want to briefly address the broader operating environment. We are actively monitoring developments related to tariffs and macro demand conditions.

David Li
David Li
President and CEO at Ingevity

We'll cover this in more detail later, but briefly from a tariff standpoint, we believe the direct impact to our business will be minimal. And we have mitigation plans underway to manage any near term effects. On macro demand, particularly related to consumer sentiment and auto sales, we've widened our guidance range to be in line with the latest auto industry forecasts, which reflect an approximately 10% year over year decline in North American auto production versus prior expectations when we delivered guidance in February. Despite these headwinds, I believe Ingevity is well positioned to deliver strong profitability in 2025 and beyond. Our focus will remain on the disciplined execution of our strategy to optimize the portfolio and drive business performance, which should create significant value for our shareholders.

David Li
David Li
President and CEO at Ingevity

With that, I'll turn it over to Mary.

Mary Hall
Mary Hall
Executive VP & CFO at Ingevity

Thanks, Dave. Good morning all. Please turn to Slide five. First quarter sales of $284,000,000 were down 17% versus Q1 last year due primarily to our repositioning actions in Performance Chemicals and weak industrial demand, which also impacted Advanced Polymer Technologies sales. Our adjusted gross profit of $129,000,000 was up 10% with gross margin improving over 1,000 basis points, reflecting the successful execution of repositioning actions that included the exit of lower margin end markets, cost saving actions and lower CTO costs.

Mary Hall
Mary Hall
Executive VP & CFO at Ingevity

Adjusted SG and A dollars were down compared to last year, but did increase as a percentage of net sales due to the lower revenue. Adjusted EBITDA was up $17,000,000 and margins improved from 21.9% to 32.1%. This is our fourth consecutive quarter of year over year gross margin and EBITDA margin improvement. A key goal of our repositioning actions was to reduce our exposure to lower margin end markets, And you see in the chart on the bottom right of this slide how our most profitable businesses now represent the dominant portion of total company sales, driving overall improvement in profitability. Please turn to slide six.

Mary Hall
Mary Hall
Executive VP & CFO at Ingevity

The key takeaway from this slide is that our successful execution of repositioning and improved working capital is driving strong free cash flow, which combined with improving EBITDA is reducing leverage. Free cash flow of $15,000,000 improved $44,000,000 from Q1 last year, primarily reflecting repositioning benefits, including lower exposure to CTO. The chart in the upper left shows our net leverage continuing to improve, ending the quarter at 3.3 times. As we move into the summer months and our Roadtec business ramps up, we expect to generate strong free cash flow, especially in the second half of the year. We are affirming our prior guidance of leverage less than 2.8 times by the end of this year.

Mary Hall
Mary Hall
Executive VP & CFO at Ingevity

Turning to Slide seven. Performance Materials had higher sales due to favorable regional and product mix as well as our annual price increases. In Q1, we saw volume growth in China as government incentives drove higher vehicle sales. We also saw growth in the rest of Asia Pacific as exports to The U. S.

Mary Hall
Mary Hall
Executive VP & CFO at Ingevity

Increased in anticipation of higher tariffs. We saw a similar increase in volume toward the end of the first quarter in North America, although volumes for the entire quarter were down year over year. However, a favorable mix in North America offset the lower volume as we saw demand increase for hybrids and for more fuel efficient vehicles such as those with turbo or stop start features. These technologies require more of our higher value activated carbon even if overall carbon volume is lower in the vehicle. We also implemented our annual price increases during the quarter, which contributed to the increase in sales.

Mary Hall
Mary Hall
Executive VP & CFO at Ingevity

EBITDA margins remained near 54% for the quarter. Based on the latest auto industry forecast for this year, which now show a 9% to 10% decline in North America versus the prior forecast, we estimate that segment EBITDA could be lower by 15,000,000 to $20,000,000 and we have lowered the bottom end of our guidance to reflect this possibility. However, keep in mind that the average age of an automobile in The U. S. Is at an all time high, around 14 years old.

Mary Hall
Mary Hall
Executive VP & CFO at Ingevity

And at some point, these vehicles will need to be replaced. Also, please remember that we can pivot to the filtration markets if auto production weakens. And while these are lower margin markets than auto, we have this and other levers to mitigate the impact. For full year 2025, we continue to expect segment margins around 50%. With respect to tariffs, to the extent they lead to actual declines in global auto production, the sensitivity analysis I just discussed would apply.

Mary Hall
Mary Hall
Executive VP & CFO at Ingevity

In terms of direct impacts due to tariffs, our Performance Materials business does ship some materials from our U. S. Plants to our China plants. Mitigating actions we are taking to minimize the impact from China imposed tariffs include utilizing existing in country inventory, expanding localization of material sourcing and adjusting price where appropriate. We believe these actions would largely offset the impact of China tariffs.

Mary Hall
Mary Hall
Executive VP & CFO at Ingevity

Please turn to Slide eight. APT had lower overall sales in the quarter with volumes mix depending on the region. In North America and EMEA, volumes were higher, while volumes in Asia were down primarily due to customers working through existing inventory and we saw increased competition, which put downward pressure on price. EBITDA for the quarter was higher by $3,000,000 and margins increased to 29.6%. This increase was driven primarily by higher utilization rates at the plant as we built inventory to prepare for an extended plant outage in the second quarter to install new boilers.

Mary Hall
Mary Hall
Executive VP & CFO at Ingevity

On a full year basis, we expect margins for this segment to be approximately 20%. With respect to tariffs, we currently do not expect a material direct impact on APT as our manufacturing operations are in The UK and many of the products are exempt from tariffs. We are pleased to introduce a new member of our leadership team. Michael Shukov joined us as President of APT in March. He's an accomplished specialty chemicals executive who brings over twenty five years of experience transforming business profitability and driving growth in new markets at global companies.

Mary Hall
Mary Hall
Executive VP & CFO at Ingevity

Michael will focus on accelerating profitable segment growth across product lines and geographies and driving operational excellence to reduce costs. Please turn to Slide nine for Performance Chemicals results. Sales for the segment were lower by 35% primarily as a result of our repositioning actions. Industrial Specialties had revenue of $51,000,000 which is in line with our go forward quarterly run rate expectations of 40,000,000 to $50,000,000 of sales per quarter. Roadtec sales were down slightly from last year in this seasonally slow period.

Mary Hall
Mary Hall
Executive VP & CFO at Ingevity

Maintaining the momentum from the second half of last year, segment EBITDA showed year over year improvement of $10,000,000 The key drivers of this improvement were lower CTO costs, which peaked in Q1 of last year and cost savings as a result of successful repositioning actions. We continue to expect the high cost inventory purchased last year to negatively impact margins through Q2, but also expect full year segment EBITDA margins in the mid to high single digits. Our discussions with interested parties regarding strategic options for Industrial Specialties and the North Charleston refinery are progressing well and we expect to communicate a path forward before the end of the year. With respect to tariffs, this segment has all its manufacturing assets in The U. S.

Mary Hall
Mary Hall
Executive VP & CFO at Ingevity

And the majority of its sales are within The U. S. In addition, the raw materials we purchase are either sourced in The U. S. Or exempt from announced tariffs.

Mary Hall
Mary Hall
Executive VP & CFO at Ingevity

Therefore, we currently expect minimal direct impact from tariffs. In summary, our results demonstrate our progress in improving profitability and reducing leverage, and we expect this momentum to continue through the year. And I'll now turn the call back to Dave for an update on guidance and closing comments.

David Li
David Li
President and CEO at Ingevity

Thanks, Mary. Please turn to Slide 10. As I mentioned earlier, we continue to monitor the evolving macro landscape, including the implications of recent tariffs and broader global uncertainty. We intend to manage our business with discipline and flexibility, guided by what we see from our customers and supported by industry forecasts. From a tariff standpoint, we currently believe the direct impact to our business will be minimal and that we are well positioned to mitigate the impact due to our global infrastructure and business model as well as further mitigation plans, including pricing surcharges, inventory management and additional localization efforts.

David Li
David Li
President and CEO at Ingevity

However, based on the latest third party projections for North American auto production, we've made the decision to adjust the low end of our full year guidance to account for the potential slowdown in production. As noted on Slide 10, we've widened our guidance range for sales and EBITDA to reflect the impact of a 10% reduction in North American auto production in line with the most recent industry forecast. This should also provide some sensitivity to our business should end market demand conditions further deteriorate. So far in Q2, we've not seen material shifts in customer order patterns in our Performance Materials business and the positive momentum we saw in March continued into April. While we recognize the challenges ahead, we remain focused on continuing to execute against our commitments to improve profitability and reduce leverage and are confident in our ability to navigate this environment and continue to deliver value for our shareholders.

David Li
David Li
President and CEO at Ingevity

With that, I'll turn it over for questions.

Operator

And our first question comes from John McNulty from BMO Capital Markets. John, your line is open. Please go ahead.

John McNulty
John McNulty
MD - Chemicals Analyst at BMO Capital Markets

Yes, good morning. Thanks for taking my question. Dave, congratulations on the role. Great to have you in the seat. Thanks, So I guess, first, we wanted to just Sure.

John McNulty
John McNulty
MD - Chemicals Analyst at BMO Capital Markets

Just wanted to dig into the Performance Materials business. Can you speak to the pricing that you're seeing right now and where you might be looking to take that given some of the issues you spoke to about tariff and working around some of the tariff issues?

David Li
David Li
President and CEO at Ingevity

Right. So thanks for the question. I'll let Mary take the specifics on pricing.

David Li
David Li
President and CEO at Ingevity

But from a Performance Materials standpoint, obviously, we think we have a very strong position, great technology. And this quarter, we saw a very strong performance. And we mentioned in my comments that we continue to see that strength that we saw in the later part of the quarter continue into April. And everyone's watching this sort of environment of uncertainty. But so far what we've seen is pretty encouraging.

David Li
David Li
President and CEO at Ingevity

Mary, why don't you talk to the pricing?

Mary Hall
Mary Hall
Executive VP & CFO at Ingevity

Sure. And so as we've talked about before, John, in this business, the Performance Materials business, we do typically do a once a year kind of annual price increase this year with normal course of business from that regard. Clearly, it is a lever we can pull to the extent that we do see production begin to decline or tariff impacts that are unexpected, etcetera. But again, to date, we're not seeing that. So we have price is one of the tools in our toolkit that we can use as a mitigating lever.

Mary Hall
Mary Hall
Executive VP & CFO at Ingevity

But as David mentioned, there are others, again increasing localization efforts where there might be a tariff impact, for example. So, so far business as usual on that front.

David Li
David Li
President and CEO at Ingevity

Yes. And John, I would just add to Mary's comments. We feel like from a tariff perspective, we're really well positioned. And I think you know that following the company for as long as you have. But primarily, we're producing local for local.

David Li
David Li
President and CEO at Ingevity

So we have U. S. Facilities producing products for U. S. Sales.

David Li
David Li
President and CEO at Ingevity

And then also in China, we're producing for China production. To the extent that we have any sort of tariff impact, we have mitigation plans underway. And one of those, as Mary mentioned, is pricing. But we feel confident we can mitigate any tariff impact than what we see right now. Of course, it's a very dynamic situation, but what we see right now is the tariff impact will be minimal.

John McNulty
John McNulty
MD - Chemicals Analyst at BMO Capital Markets

Got it. Okay. No, that's very helpful. And then just as a follow-up question, on the strategic review of the inspect business, I guess, you give us a little bit more color on the update or progress there? And also for the potential for that review to maybe be broadened.

John McNulty
John McNulty
MD - Chemicals Analyst at BMO Capital Markets

It looks like you're you're maybe taking this towards the end of the year. I think, Mary, you said in your commentary, seems like a bit longer than normal to kind of think about a strategic review. So maybe you can give us an update on that as well.

Mary Hall
Mary Hall
Executive VP & CFO at Ingevity

Okay. Didn't intend to imply that. Let me address kind of in order. The process is progressing well. We are in a process.

Mary Hall
Mary Hall
Executive VP & CFO at Ingevity

I can say that we have had quite a bit of interest, quite broad degree of interest and are being very deliberate and thoughtful in working through that. So we're kind of in the point as that those discussions are live to really not being able to give you more color than that. When I say before the end of the year, is that a long time? Probably does seem like a long time, but we're moving as expeditiously and thoughtfully as we can and hope to have more news as soon as is appropriate.

John McNulty
John McNulty
MD - Chemicals Analyst at BMO Capital Markets

Got it. Fair enough. Thanks very much for the color.

Operator

The next question comes from John Tanwanteng from CJS Securities. John, your line is open. Please go ahead.

Jon Tanwanteng
Managing Director at CJS Securities

Good morning. Thank you for taking my question. Congrats on a nice quarter. And also, David, to you for the appointment for CEO position. If you could, I was wondering if you could talk about your strategic and operational priorities, especially in the volatile environment compared to your predecessors and how it might be different?

David Li
David Li
President and CEO at Ingevity

Yes. Thanks, John. And first, as I mentioned, really excited to be here. I've known Ingevity for a long time and I've spent my career in Specialty Materials. From a strategic and operational focus, I think a lot of what the momentum that Luis as our Interim CEO brought is something we definitely want to continue just in terms of that focus on disciplined execution, getting optimized performance from our businesses.

David Li
David Li
President and CEO at Ingevity

Mary talked about the ongoing process we have around Industrial Specialties. So we need to really focus on executing and really optimizing business performance. The priorities also remain the same, which are to continue reducing our leverage and getting to the point where we have some optionality with our business. I think about it in terms of right now we've got a portfolio that's in transition. We really need to get to the point where we've paid down leverage, optimized that business performance and then figure out what is the kind of cohesion of our portfolio, where do we have the right to operate businesses and think about then think about where we might grow into.

David Li
David Li
President and CEO at Ingevity

But I think for this first period, it's really focused on execution, paying down debt and being a little bit more front footed and having some more optionality with the business.

Jon Tanwanteng
Managing Director at CJS Securities

Thank you. Mary, if you could touch on the cash flow for the year. What lets you keep the forecast with a little bit more, I guess, the high range on the earnings, especially if the auto comes in at the low end?

Mary Hall
Mary Hall
Executive VP & CFO at Ingevity

So we continue execute well on working capital management. And frankly, in a in a worsening environment, hope hopefully, we don't get there. But, you know, if you're if you're in an environment where sales, for example, are trending down in that lower EBITDA part of the guidance, we would typically actually throw off more free cash flow. You're not building as much inventory for growth. You're not building receivables for growth.

Mary Hall
Mary Hall
Executive VP & CFO at Ingevity

So history demonstrates that in the scenarios that we've articulated for you here, we're very comfortable affirming the free cash flow guide.

Jon Tanwanteng
Managing Director at CJS Securities

Great. And then if I could sneak one more in. Just you mentioned an EV slowdown, which is pretty apparent. I was just wondering how much does that impact your forecast internally versus, I guess, the 10% down on the industry? And furthermore, how does that impact the investment in Nexium?

David Li
David Li
President and CEO at Ingevity

Right. So I think your question was really on EVs, but let me just take the from kind of setting the fundamentals first. We wanted to really anchor our guidance on a widely accepted industry standard, which was at S and P. So they reduced their forecast by about 10% and modeling that into 10% of North American auto production. And when you kind of model that through our results, that's how we get to that 15,000,000 to $20,000,000 reduction in EBITDA.

David Li
David Li
President and CEO at Ingevity

And we wanted to do that also because it's a very uncertain environment. If it's less than the effect would be less. And obviously if it's more the situation worsens then it also would correlate with that initial guidance. In terms of EVs, our investment with Nexeon is really an exciting initiative to extend our expertise in carbon technology to EVs. Even though EVs are slowing down, they're obviously becoming an important part of the auto industry.

David Li
David Li
President and CEO at Ingevity

And so while we are pleased with the progress with Nexeon, I think that any sort of slowdown in EVs, we're more excited about the adoption of this new type of technology that would represent a new growth platform for us. So I don't think the EV slowdown would really impact our enthusiasm for the future technology from Nexeon.

Mary Hall
Mary Hall
Executive VP & CFO at Ingevity

And maybe I'll just add on to that. Again, this is about one element of Nexeon is about new battery technology. So it's not just EV cars technology. This is about us finding new applications for our carbon in new battery technology. And hopefully, we'd like the progress with Nexeon and if that technology is successful.

Mary Hall
Mary Hall
Executive VP & CFO at Ingevity

Again, remember, EVs includes hybrids, and we're in hybrids too. So those are not on the decline. Hybrids continue to see good growth. So we view the hybrid segment of EVs as positive, and we also view Nexeon as potentially another doorway to new markets for us.

Jon Tanwanteng
Managing Director at CJS Securities

Great. Thank you.

Operator

The next question comes from Daniel Rizzo from Jefferies. Daniel, your line is open. Please go ahead.

Dan Rizzo
Dan Rizzo
Senior Vice President at Jefferies Financial Group

Good morning, everyone. Thanks for taking my question. You mentioned that maybe shifting to the filtration market if there is more weakness within auto. I was wondering if how big the filtration market is and if it's large enough to kind of handle the shift in volumes or if it's kind of just more of a partial offset?

David Li
David Li
President and CEO at Ingevity

Yes. I think that's been something that we've had in place for a while. It's a natural outlet for our if any underutilized capacity. I'll let Mary maybe comment on just how much of an outlet we've used in the past.

Mary Hall
Mary Hall
Executive VP & CFO at Ingevity

I think during COVID, when production was down significantly, that filtration was a significant pivot for us. And again, clearly lower margin markets than auto, just about most things are. But that is a very sizable market and can soak up a lot of capacity if it's available.

Dan Rizzo
Dan Rizzo
Senior Vice President at Jefferies Financial Group

When you say lower margin, is it I mean, can you quantify what you're talking about really?

Mary Hall
Mary Hall
Executive VP & CFO at Ingevity

We have not quantified that in the past.

David Li
David Li
President and CEO at Ingevity

But I think Dan if you look at the market for activated carbon, as Mary mentioned, it's a big segment. We'll obviously prioritize the higher value components of it, but it's hard to find a comparable to the auto market that we have a very strong position. So obviously, it'll be something less, but as Mary mentioned, we haven't talked about the specific margin range.

Dan Rizzo
Dan Rizzo
Senior Vice President at Jefferies Financial Group

Okay. Thanks for the clarification. And then you mentioned getting down to less than 2.8 times leverage by the end of the year. I was wondering if there's what the long term goal is or if that's changed at all in, I don't know, in recent times?

Mary Hall
Mary Hall
Executive VP & CFO at Ingevity

Well, we've historically said two to 2.5 times. And I think we've we're still in that still holding firm to that as a long term target. I think to Dave's point, we believe especially as a kind of in the smaller caps, mid cap space that that kind of leverage seems to be where our owners would like to see us and does provide us that additional optionality that Dave mentioned. So we're headed clearly headed in the right direction.

Dan Rizzo
Dan Rizzo
Senior Vice President at Jefferies Financial Group

Thank you very much.

Operator

The next question comes from Michael Sison from Wells Fargo. This

Abigail Eberts
Abigail Eberts
Equity Research Associate at Wells Fargo

is Abiyal on for Congrats, David. So looking at APS, you mentioned increased competition in China. Are you expecting that to remain a headwind going forward? And do you think you'll be able to recoup any of the pricing you've had to concede long term?

David Li
David Li
President and CEO at Ingevity

Yes. Thanks, Abigail. It is a competitive environment, especially in China, as we mentioned. But I think on the other side of it, we have a new leader in charge of the business, Michael. We're really excited to bring him aboard.

David Li
David Li
President and CEO at Ingevity

And he's brought not only experience, but also we are optimizing our commercial approach. And so I think we definitely have advantages. We have technologies that that have differentiation. So we're encouraged, but it is a competitive environment. And so it's one of those things where we expect to continue maintaining our positions, growing them in certain situations.

David Li
David Li
President and CEO at Ingevity

There's obviously an industrial component, an auto component and sort of a consumer component. And so I think it's going to be a slog, but I think we definitely have technology with differentiation, a new leader in place. And so we're encouraged by our progress there. And so again, we'll have to see how it goes in the future, but encouraged by what we've seen so far and excited to have Michael aboard.

Abigail Eberts
Abigail Eberts
Equity Research Associate at Wells Fargo

Okay. Got it. And then as a follow-up, in terms of raw materials, you mentioned that your raws in Performance Chemicals are either sourced locally or exempt from tariffs. Is that true for your other two segments?

David Li
David Li
President and CEO at Ingevity

Yes. From a tariff perspective and a supply chain perspective, we're really not very exposed to tariffs at this time. We think the impact is very minimal. And so everything that we can source locally, have. That's already been something we've had in place for a while.

David Li
David Li
President and CEO at Ingevity

So from a supply chain perspective, really no concerns.

Operator

We have no further questions. So I'll hand the call back to John Nyparba for some closing comments.

John Nypaver
John Nypaver
VP of Investor Relations & Treasurer at Ingevity

Thanks, Adam. That concludes our call. Thank you for your interest in Ingevity, and we'll talk with you again next quarter.

Operator

This concludes today's call. Thank you very much for your attendance. You may now disconnect your lines.

Executives
    • John Nypaver
      John Nypaver
      VP of Investor Relations & Treasurer
    • David Li
      David Li
      President and CEO
    • Mary Hall
      Mary Hall
      Executive VP & CFO
Analysts
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Key Takeaways

  • In Q1, Ingevity delivered its fourth consecutive quarter of year-over-year margin expansion, with adjusted gross profit up 10% and adjusted EBITDA margin rising from 21.9% to 32.1%, helping improve net leverage to 3.3x.
  • The Performance Materials segment maintained near 54% EBITDA margins despite a projected 9–10% decline in North American auto production, lowering full-year guidance by $15–20 m but relying on price increases, pivots to filtration markets, and localization to mitigate tariff impacts.
  • Advanced Polymer Technologies saw margins expand to 29.6% thanks to higher utilization ahead of a planned second-quarter plant outage, and expects full-year segment margins of about 20% under new president Michael Shukhoff.
  • Performance Chemicals sales fell 35% in Q1 following repositioning actions, yet segment EBITDA improved by $10 m due to lower cost-to-operate expenses, and management is progressing on a strategic review of Industrial Specialties and the North Charleston refinery.
  • CEO David Lee emphasized disciplined execution, portfolio optimization, and strong free cash flow generation to achieve less than 2.8x leverage by year-end, while anticipating minimal direct tariff impacts and continuing investment in battery carbon technology with Nexeon.
AI Generated. May Contain Errors.
Earnings Conference Call
Ingevity Q1 2025
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