LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) Q4 2023 earnings summary

Executive summary

• FY23 net income was $2.1B and EBITDA $4.509B; excluding identified items, net income was $2.8B and EBITDA $5.222B.

• Q4 net income was $185M and diluted EPS $0.56; excluding identified items, net income was $411M and EPS $1.26.

• Soft global demand, capacity additions and economic uncertainty weighed on results; cash generation and execution of strategic priorities remained key.

Financial highlights

• FY23 revenue was $41.107B versus $50.451B in FY22; Q4 revenue was $9.929B, down from $10.625B in Q3 and $10.206B year over year.

• Q4 EBITDA was $639M, or $910M excluding identified items; FY23 operating cash flow was $4.942B and Q4 operating cash flow was $1.504B.

• Cash and cash equivalents were $3.4B at year-end 2023.

Outlook and guidance

• 2024 outlook anticipated modest improvement across most businesses in 2H24; Q1 seasonality and economic uncertainty were expected to weigh on results, with spring and summer demand improvement expected.

• Q1 operating rates were expected at ~80% for O&P Americas and ~75% for O&P EAI and I&D; refinery utilization target was ~80%.

• 2024 CAPEX was estimated at ~$2.1B, including ~$1.3B sustaining and ~$0.8B profit-generating CAPEX; net interest expense ~$400MM, D&A ~$1.6B and effective tax rate ~20%.

• Strategy targets $3B incremental Normalized EBITDA by 2027; CLCS targets $500MM by 2027 and $1B by 2030, while VEP targets up to $1B recurring annual EBITDA by year-end 2025.

• Refinery operations were planned to continue no later than the end of 1Q25.