In view of this challenging environment, Brenntag delivered a solid performance overall in 2023 and once again demonstrated its resilience. We are satisfied with our financial results, even though, as expected, they were down on 2022, a record year. Brenntag generated sales of EUR 16.82 billion and operating gross profit of EUR 4.04 billion in financial year 2023. Our operating EBITA came to EUR 1.27 billion. The challenging external influences are also reflected in the figures of our two divisions. Operating gross profit at Brenntag Essentials came to EUR 2.53 billion. Operating EBITA stood at EUR 848.9 million in financial year 2023. Brenntag Specialties posted operating gross profit of EUR 1.48 billion. Operating EBITA came to EUR 550.8 million. To counter the challenging macroeconomic conditions, we took measures to reduce costs, among other things, which had the intended effect during the second half of the year.
Above all last year, Brenntag continued the transformation it initiated in autumn 2020. We worked constantly to execute our growth strategy “Strategy to Win”, through which we are gradually aligning our two divisions more closely with global market conditions and customer and supplier needs. An important part of this strategy is to modernize and consistently expand our IT infrastructure and our digital and data basis. The aim is to make Brenntag a more data- and technology-driven company that stands out for efficiency, growth and excellence in all areas of the organization.
As announced in summer 2023, we are also making further adjustments to the governance and organizational structures in conformity with our “Strategy to Win”, both for the Group and for the two Brenntag divisions. This will enable our divisions to have more differentiated and market-aligned steering in accordance with their growth strategies and in line with customer and supplier needs. At the Capital Markets Day in December 2023, we set out our plans in greater detail: to better leverage Brenntag Essentials’ full potential in the highly attractive global market for chemical distribution and to clearly improve Brenntag Specialties’ performance capability in Life Science and Material Science. At the same time, we are driving forward the two divisions’ operational and legal disentanglement. Thus, we will gradually create independent, autonomous and market-leading businesses.
As global market leader with an extremely resilient business model, a compelling growth strategy and a very robust financial profile, Brenntag is best positioned to consolidate the still-highly-fragmented chemical distribution market and thus drive our growth. In the past year, we signed or closed eight acquisitions in focus industries and growth markets of strategic importance to us. A total spend of EUR 570 million on mergers and acquisitions puts us slightly above our planned average annual M&A corridor of EUR 400 to 500 million which we set for 2023 and subsequent years.
Brenntag believes that being the global leader in one’s industry also means playing a pioneering role in ESG (environment, social and governance). Our top priority is to act responsibly in all three dimensions of ESG. In the reporting period, various initiatives and new services enabled us to increase the sustainability of our product portfolio and give our customers more transparency over the carbon footprint of the products sourced from us, for example. Our performance and our offering in this area have been recognized and qualified by way of well-known ratings and certifications. In addition to responsibility for the environment, responsibility toward our employees is also firmly embedded in our DNA. We put everyone’s health and safety first in everything we do. I am therefore delighted that we moved another step closer to our goal of achieving a TRIR of less than 2.0 and preventing serious accidents completely by 2030. The TRIR continued to fall and stood at 2.5 in financial year 2023. This performance is thanks to the diverse initiatives to promote safety and raise employee awareness that we are always implementing at Brenntag. We were particularly pleased that we once again achieved third place among the DAX companies in Germany in the DVFA corporate governance quality ranking.
Dear shareholders, we can look back on a long track record of success at our company, during which we have paved the way for a successful future, especially in recent years. Here, our sincere thanks go to Doreen Nowotne, who stepped down from the Supervisory Board as scheduled at the 2023 Annual General Meeting after serving more than thirteen years on the Board, three of them as Chair.
The continuing development of our – your – company is aimed not least of all at creating attractive value for you. Through our share buyback program initiated in March 2023 and now almost completed, we have acquired and withdrawn treasury shares at a total purchase price of EUR 750 million in two tranches. Since going public in 2010, we have also reliably increased our dividend. This year too, for the thirteenth time in succession, we will propose to the Annual General Meeting that it be increased and a dividend of EUR 2.10 be distributed per share.
What can you expect from Brenntag in 2024, its anniversary year? We will continue our track record of success. By continuing to consistently drive our transformation and implementing and developing our strategy in a targeted manner. In addition to measures that ensure our two divisions’ organic growth, this also includes value-enhancing acquisitions. In the process, we will always adapt our decisions in line with macroeconomic and geopolitical developments. Time and time again during our 150-year history, we have proven that we turn challenges into opportunities for Brenntag and thus continue to grow. Currently, the slight, sequential signs of recovery in our volumes in the second half of 2023 make us cautiously optimistic of a medium-term improvement in market conditions. We expect this trend to continue in 2024, but at the same time also anticipate that the general economic uncertainty will persist. Against this background, we expect the Brenntag Group’s operating EBITA for 2024 to be between EUR 1,230 million and EUR 1,430 million.
Dear shareholders, I would like to thank you for your loyalty and your support. In this anniversary year, I again look forward to actively shaping Brenntag’s further success together with our employees, the full Board of Management, our global management team and the Supervisory Board.
Essen, March 7, 2024
Dr. Christian Kohlpaintner
Chief Executive Officer