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Financial Press Conference 2019

Evonik's Executive Board presented very good figures at its Financial Press Conference on March 5 at the Essen Campus. Executive Board Chairman Christian Kullmann: "We delivered what we set out to do and what we announced we would do."

The evening before the press conference, the company completed the sale of the Methacrylates business. The financial investor Advent International paid €3 billion, which was significantly more than the market had expected. “A brilliant result,” said Christian Kullmann to around two dozen journalists and photographers at the financial press conference.

Together with his fellow board members Thomas Wessel, Ute Wolf and Harald Schwager, Christian Kullmann presented the results for 2018. "Despite considerable external pressures, we have achieved our targets for 2018," said Kullmann. The sale of the Methacrylates business is a "milestone in Evonik’s development”.

Christian Kullmann compared Evonik's journey towards becoming a best-in-class-specialty chemicals company with a 100-meter sprint. "We are currently at about the 10-meter-mark and have demonstrated the potential of our company." Kullmann sees Evonik's target for this sprint as a business built around its four growth engines - Smart Materials, Specialty Additives, Health & Care and Animal Nutrition. - with a margin of 18 to 20 percent, a lean, efficient and effective organization, a high degree of digitization, and stronger presence in international growthmarkets.

Chief Financial Officer Ute Wolf was pleased with a "very successful 2018": An increase in revenue of 4 percent to € 15 billion, an increase in adjusted EBITDA of 10 percent to €2.6 billion, and a noticeable increase in free cash flow to €672 million were honored by the capital markets.

Consistency and action with a long-term view: this is crucial for the implementation of the corporate strategy, especially in times of growing uncertainty, stressed Christian Kullmann. Evonik will continue to invest where it already occupies leading positions; a current example is the construction of a new plant for the production of polyamide 12 in Marl. The sale of the Methacrylates business expands the scope for Evonik’s further transformation.

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