The consequences of the coronavirus pandemic have cost foam processor Recticel (Brussels / Belgium; www.recticel.com) a considerable amount of sales, especially in the second quarter of 2020. While the decline in revenue was limited to -17.5%, falling to EUR 374.3m by the end of the first six months, the first quarter only accounted for a small proportion of this, at -3%. Sales then collapsed by almost precisely one third in the second quarter. The EBITDA for the first half year almost halved to around EUR 19.1m.

“After a good start to the year, the group has been hard hit by corona,” confirmed CEO Olivier Chapelle. The lowest point was reached in April, when sales fell by half compared with the same period of the previous year. In May and June, sales continually improved again, with a minus of only 4.1% in July.

In the meantime, Recticel, like the majority of other companies in the sector, had also implemented cost-cutting measures, short-time working and temporary plant closures so as to remain solvent. The sale of the Eurofoam and Automotive Interiors divisions (see Plasteurope.com of 01.07.2020) nevertheless went ahead as planned on 30 June. The segment reports will thus be limited to the three divisions of “Flexible Foams", “Bedding” and “Insulation" in future. Despite the sale of these segments Chapelle is expecting second-half revenues and EBITDA to be at the previous year’s level providing there are no further upheavals due to the pandemic.

All in all, the PU processor evidently had difficulty in keeping its sales prices reasonably stable in the first half of the year, given the fall in raw material costs that had come about in the meantime.

Revenue from flexible foams fell by 22.3%, due primarily to the decline in sales volumes resulting from the hygiene measures. Comfort foams for furniture recovered to a greater extent midway through the year than the technical variants. In the latter case, sales only got back on track again slowly in the automotive and industrial sectors, for example.
Sales of mattresses underwent a less pronounced fall, at a reported -8.9%. According to Chapelle, incoming orders had already exceeded the figures for the previous year again by June.

At -13.2%, revenue for PU and PIR insulation board was between the other two segments. As with the mattress segment, the construction sector experienced a noticeable recovery as of May, which meant that sales volumes in June were also above the previous year’s figures.