Chemours Rebounded, Warned of Weaker Refrigerant Demand
Free cash flow more than doubled to $114 million on improved working capital.
The Chemours Company (CC), the specialty chemicals maker, rebounded from a weak first quarter as adjusted EBITDA climbed 46% sequentially to $247 million, though it remained 5% below a year earlier.
The recovery reflected higher seasonal volume and more normalized operations at Washington Works. The trajectory remained uneven, with year-over-year volume declines across Chemours’ businesses and weaker Opteon aftermarket demand weighing on the outlook.
Second-quarter net sales rose 15% sequentially to $1.591 billion, driven by 13% higher volume and 2% higher pricing. Sales declined 1% from a year earlier, while adjusted earnings fell 31% to $0.42 a share. Adjusted net income rose to $64 million from $8 million in the first quarter.
Thermal & Specialized Solutions sales increased 4% sequentially to $591 million, while adjusted EBITDA rose 12% to $213 million and its margin widened to 36% from 33%. The refrigerants mix shifted as Opteon sales fell 10% from a year earlier to $337 million, while Freon sales rose 22% to $150 million.
Titanium Technologies sales rebounded 18% sequentially to $661 million as volume rose 15% and pricing increased 3%. Adjusted EBITDA climbed to $48 million from $18 million, lifting the segment’s margin to 7% from 3%, though inflation offset some of the year-over-year pricing benefit.
Advanced Performance Materials sales rose 34% sequentially to $326 million as Washington Works operations normalized, but remained 6% below a year earlier. Performance Solutions sales increased 8% year over year on data-center and semiconductor demand, while Advanced Materials sales fell 14%. Segment adjusted EBITDA recovered to $26 million from $5 million sequentially but was still down 48% from a year earlier.
Chemours forecast third-quarter adjusted EBITDA of $175 million to $205 million and sales would decline 5% to flat sequentially. Thermal & Specialized Solutions sales are expected to fall by the mid-teens to 20% as Opteon aftermarket demand weakened, while Titanium Technologies and Advanced Performance Materials sales are expected to increase.
The company maintained its full-year forecast for sales growth of 1% to 5% and adjusted EBITDA of $775 million to $825 million. Operating cash flow rose to $158 million from $93 million a year earlier, helping Chemours repay €230 million of term debt and reduce net leverage to 4.4 times. The company projects leverage of about 3.8 times by year-end.