Financial Statistics for Large Chemical Companies

The following table presents a few financial statistics for many of the largest global chemical companies:

 

company	sales in billions usd	cost of sales (cos) in billions usd	gpm% (sales-cos/rev)	net income in billions usd	net income as % of sales	r&d expense in billions usd	r&d %  of sales	long term debt in billions usd	long term debt % of sales
air products	8.86	5.86	34%	1.89	21%	0.08	1%	10.31	116%
akzo nobel	9.73	5.42	44%	0.77	8%	0.27	3%	4.71	48%
albemarle	3.13	2.13	32%	0.45	14%	0.059	2%	2.77	88%
arkema	8.99	7.23	20%	0.38	4%	0.27	3%	4.45	49%
asahi kasei	20.16	13.83	31%	0.97	5%	0.853	4%	5.360	27%
basf	67.45	50.22	26%	0.00	0%	2.39	4%	33.75	50%
celanese	5.66	4.36	23%	1.99	35%	0.074	1%	3.23	57%
chemours	4.97	3.90	22%	0.22	4%	0.093	2%	4.01	81%
clariant	4.40	3.07	30%	0.84	19%	0.19	4%	2.85	65%
covestro	12.21	9.36	23%	0.52	4%	0.52	4%	5.61	46%
dow	38.54	33.34	13%	1.30	3%	0.768	2%	10.6	28%
dsm	9.25	6.08	34%	0.58	6%	0.45	5%	5.26	57%
dupont	20.40	13.52	34%	0.00	0%	0.86	4%	21.8	107%
eastman	8.47	6.50	23%	0.49	6%	0.226	3%	5.27	62%
evonik	13.91	10.07	28%	0.55	4%	0.49	4%	18.18	131%
fmc	4.64	2.59	44%	0.55	12%	0.288	6%	2.93	63%
huntsman	6.02	4.92	18%	1.03	17%	0.135	2%	1.53	25%
kemira	2.77	2.30	17%	0.16	6%	0.03	1%	0.83	30%
lanxess	6.96	5.19	25%	1.03	15%	0.12	2%	4.63	67%
linde	31.01	17.54	43%	2.85	9%	0.17	1%	13.85	45%
lyondellbasell	31.64	27.78	12%	1.62	5%	0.13	0.4%	17.43	55%
mitsubishi	33.54	24.30	28%	0.81	2%	1.246	4%	14.580	43%
mitsui	11.36	8.60	24%	0.60	5%	0.319	3%	2.750	24%
mosaic	8.68	7.62	12%	0.67	8%	na	na	4.07	47%
nitto denko	7.13	4.84	32%	0.66	9%	0.331	5%	0.161	2%
olin	5.76	5.37	7%	0.00	0%	0.017	0%	3.84	67%
ppg	13.83	7.77	44%	1.07	8%	0.379	3%	5.17	37%
sekisui	10.58	7.19	32%	0.57	5%	0.049	0.5%	0.585	6%
shin-etsu	14.16	9.06	36%	3.84	27%	0.445	3%	0.138	1%
solvay	10.58	9.35	12%	0.18	2%	0.37	3%	3.4	32%
sumitomo	20.45	13.96	32%	0.50	2%	1.6	8%	7.8	38%
toray	20.36	16.33	20%	0.60	3%	na	na	6.19	30%
trinseo	3.04	2.72	11%	0.01	0%	0.06	2%	1.16	38%
umicore	23.71	21.46	9%	0.16	1%	0.25	1%	1.95	8%
wacker	5.01	4.36	13%	0.23	5%	0.18	4%	1.51	30%
westlake	7.50	6.48	14%	0.37	5%	na	na	3.57	48%
yara	11.73	7.82	33%	0.69	6%	0.091	1%	3.37	29%
average	14.23	10.61	25%	0.79	8%	0.41	3%	6.48	48%

 

The averages for these statistics provide some interesting information.   The average revenues for the thirty-seven companies (based on 2020 annual reports) is $14.23 billion.  Other averages seem good.  The average gross profit margin is twenty-five percentage.  The average net income as a percentage of sales is 8.  And the research and development (r&d) expenditure as a percentage of sales is three.

One statistic that might deserve pause in determining ow problematic it might be is the average long-term debt as a percentage of sales, which is forty-eight.

Those companies that improve on the averages should be commended.

In a future blog I hope to provide some analysis on correlating these various measurements with net income as a percentage of sales.