Net loss of Bt23bn was in line with INVX estimates, hit by impairment charges and related expenses of US$666mn from the closure of some plants under IVL’s asset optimization strategy: US$543mn non-cash items and US$123mn in severance payments to be paid later. Adjusted net profit shows a fall of 62.3% YoY and 1% QoQ to Bt1.2bn on lower profit from the combined PET and intermediate segment that beat out the strong improvement in the surfactant segment under Indovinya on demand recovery after destocking eased. 1H24 net loss of Bt21.9bn was much worse than net profit of Bt1.4bn in 1H23. We maintain our 2024F, which already included the impairment charge. We expect earnings to improve gradually in 2H24 on recovering demand and cost savings after asset optimization. We stay Neutral with TP (2024) cut to Bt19, based on 0.7x PBV (2024F) or -2SD of 5-year average.
CPET&IC1/ margin under pressure. Adjusted EBITDA fell 11% YoY but rose 1% QoQ to US$370mn as contribution from the CPET&IC segment (63% of total adjusted EBITDA) fell 25% YoY and 6% QoQ on a fall in adj. EBITDA/t to US$81.3/t (-25% YoY, -11% QoQ). Behind this was lower margin for specialty and intermediate chemicals caused by a 50-day outage of US the gas cracker. Intense competition in the PET market due to cheap supply from China and margin reset on sales contracts in North America pulled adj. EBITDA/t for integrated PET down 37% YoY and 1.2% QoQ to US$56.1/t.
Surfactant segment key profit support. Indovinya’s adj. EBITDA (surfactant segment), which accounted for 27% of total adj. EBITDA in 2Q24, rose 85% YoY and 40% QoQ on 71% YoY and 30% QoQ growth in adj. EBITDA/t as demand for high value-added products (80% of the segment’s volume, with adj. EBITDA of >20%), recovered after destocking eased. This segment shored up earnings in 2Q24 and is likely to continue to do so in 2H24, particularly in the crop solution and energy & resources units, where sales volume rose 4% and 26% YoY.
Fiber segment stable QoQ. Adjusted EBITDA for the fiber segment improved 19% YoY and 2% QoQ, driven by the mobility segment, where demand was better and destocking lower. Adjusted EBITDA/t for the segment rose 11% YoY and 1% QoQ to US$95.4/t as the mobility segment EBITDA margin surged from 6.7% in 1Q24 to 10.2% in 2Q24. Still, the segment’s adjusted EBITDA contributed only 11% of the total.
Earnings to recover in 3Q24. Although the asset optimization will reduce IVL’s annual capacity by 1.9mt and production volume by 0.6mt, it is expected to have limited impact on revenue as products will be sourced from other, most cost-competitive locations such as Egypt and Turkey. Hence, IVL’s sales volume is expected to increase further in 3Q24. Product spread will continue to edge up as industry destocking has ended and IVL will begin to benefit from fixed cost savings of US$170mn/year from the asset optimization. This will translate into EBITDA enhancement of US$150-160mn/year (~US$15-20mn in 3Q24 and US$30mn in 4Q24).
Earnings forecast maintained but TP cut. As we already put the huge impairment charge recorded in 2Q24 into our forecast, we leave our 2024F unchanged with a net loss of Bt18.3bn. We expect earnings to recover in 2H24, backed by better product spread in the surfactant segment and the benefit from fixed cost savings from the closed plants. Nonetheless, we cut PBV-based TP further to Bt19, pegged to 0.7x PBV (2024F) or -2SD of 5-year average.
Risk factors: 1) Weaker demand, 2) less efficiency improvement at new assets than expected and 3) changes in regulations on plastic products. Key ESG risk factors include the environmental impact of its business and how it adapts during the transition to clean energy and a circular economy.
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