"The past year has shown clear evidence that the three megatrends that drive the growth of our business are becoming more pronounced. The need for cleaner air has never been greater, the adoption of electrified transportation has started to accelerate and resource scarcity continues to be a pressing concern, particularly for those metals that are essential for cleaner mobility and new communications technologies."
Marc Grynberg, Umicore CEO
Umicore - the materials technology and recycling group - today published its 2016 Annual report . The report provides an integrated view of Umicore's progress towards its Horizon 2020 goals of becoming a leader in clean mobility materials and recycling, doubling its earnings, bringing greater balance to its portfolio and turning its sustainability credentials into a greater competitive edge.
Umicore has been producing an integrated report since 2006 and this report marks a new step in its reporting journey. The company has focused on the most material elements that drive its business and has sought to provide a more comprehensive overview of its business model, how it creates value and manages the impacts along its value chain. Umicore uses the GRI reporting framework and has also illustrated how its Horizon 2020 objectives contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Overall, in 2016 Umicore made a solid start towards achieving its Horizon 2020 goals. The progress was most pronounced in the economic sphere where recurring earnings grew by 7% compared to 2015. Umicore completed or announced a number of investments that will provide additional elements for an acceleration of growth in the coming years. The progress in terms of environmental, social and value chain aspects was mixed, with an overall improvement in environmental performance in contrast to a deterioration in health and safety performance.
Performance summary
- Growth in recurring EBIT of 7%
- Return on Capital Employed of 14.6% (up from 13.7%)
- Proposed dividend increase from € 1.20 to € 1.30
- 62.0% of Umicore's revenues generated by clean mobility and recycling activities in 2016
- Energy efficiency improved by 7%
- 59 accidents compared to 47 in 2015, including one fatality
- Increase in excess readings from employee biomonitoring
- Third party verification of ethical and sustainable cobalt procurement
About Umicore
Umicore is a global materials technology and recycling group. It focuses on application areas where its expertise in materials science, chemistry and metallurgy makes a real difference. Its activities are organized in three business groups: Catalysis, Energy & Surface Technologies and Recycling. Each business group is made up of market-focused business units offering materials and solutions that are at the cutting edge of new technological developments and essential to everyday life.
Umicore generates the majority of its revenues and dedicates most of its R&D efforts to clean technologies, such as emission control catalysts, materials for rechargeable batteries and recycling. Umicore's overriding goal of sustainable value creation is based on an ambition to develop, produce and recycle materials in a way that fulfils its mission: materials for a better life.
The Umicore Group has industrial operations on all continents and serves a global customer base; it generated a turnover of € 11.1 billion (€ 2.7 billion excluding metal) in 2016 and currently employs 9,900 people.
Note: In February 2017, Umicore was ranked in 14th place on the Corporate Knights and As You Sow Clean 200 of companies that make the most significant contributions to clean energy, including energy smart technologies. Umicore also featured in 5th place on the Vigeo-EIRIS ranking of the best global performers in terms of human rights.
For more information
Investor Relations
Evelien Goovaerts +32 2 227 78 38 evelien.goovaerts@umicore.com
Eva Behaeghe +32 2 227 70 68 eva.behaeghe@umicore.com
Media Relations
Tim Weekes +32 473 98 49 14 tim.weekes@umicore.com
