Message from the CEO
Not long after arriving at Corbion halfway through 2019, it really struck me; I am privileged to lead a company of truly remarkable people. The Corbion team has shown me what they are made of, time and time again, and this year was no exception. In 2024, I saw that same focus and ambition once again, and together, we turned in a strong performance. Thanks to Corbion employees for their year-round dedication in achieving these results.
In 2024, we made tough decisions, implemented a major restructuring plan, and began a transformational journey with the goal of creating a stronger, more agile, and integrated team that is better prepared than ever to pursue its purpose of preserving what matters. At the same time, we delivered great customer service, strengthened customer intimacy, and leveraged our innovation capabilities to help customers prevail in hard times. Together, the combination of our simplified organizational structure, renewed strategic focus, financial discipline, and rigorous execution, all made the difference. By the time we reported our third-quarter results, we were able to upgrade our full-year 2024 guidance. By year-end, we successfully met our upgraded targets for revenues, Adjusted EBITDA, and net debt, while significantly surpassing our free cash flow target.
We followed through on the strategic divestment of our non-core Emulsifiers business. We brought a new vinegar production site online in Montgomery, Alabama, a new blending facility in Querétaro, Mexico, and expanded our algae production in Brazil. We felt pride in commissioning the world's first circular lactic acid plant in Thailand, which was successfully qualified at our customers. We completed the final stage of our four-year global SAP implementation, which is bringing important efficiency gains.
A key reason for our ability to navigate these challenges was our commitment to our customers. We worked together, solved problems, and found ways to fulfill our promises and provide business continuity whilst maintaining service levels and fostering innovation. Our application and technical service teams helped customers by reformulating products and redesigning processes to counter inflationary pressures and raw material shortages. Coming through with creativity, expertise, and outstanding service at a critical time was a powerful demonstration of Corbion's value as a partner.
Over the last years, we completed a major investment program across our lactic acid plant network and are now well invested for the years to come, strengthening our global leadership and cost position with manufacturing sites on four continents and the ability to execute regionally through our local application labs, regional offices, and close-to-market-talent.
Looking ahead, we will focus our investments in key growth areas such as algae ingredients, particularly omega-3 oils, medical biopolymers, and natural food preservatives.
It is well known that Corbion was serious about sustainability long before ESG programs became fashionable. The progress we made in 2024 toward achieving our targets for efficient energy management and other key sustainability metrics, as well as our 2024 EcoVadis gold medal rating, made it clear that we are as committed as ever to helping to realize a more sustainable future. Our new circular lactic acid plant in Thailand is a prime example of our progress. It produces lactic acid with the lowest associated carbon footprint compared to any existing manufacturing technologies. By leveraging this innovative circular production technology, we are significantly helping our customers to reduce their scope 3 emissions, which are among the most challenging to address in the value chain. And, while we fell short of our own ambitions in terms of safety performance, we successfully reduced recordable injuries by 15 percent from the prior year. In this aspect of our business, no result greater than zero will ever be good enough. This is where "preserving what matters" starts.
Our aim has also been to preserve and create even greater shareholder value. We recognized the need to improve our cash flow and degree of debt leverage. We took action, divesting our non-core Emulsifiers business, constructing a restructuring plan, rethinking processes, and implementing a more disciplined financial strategy. The results we achieved clearly validate those actions: Corbion's CapEx discipline significantly improved free cash flow, EBITDA growth is in line with our previous guidance, and we enter 2025 as a more agile, more efficient organization with our focus set on preserving the things that matter most to our customers, our shareholders, our employees, and the planet.
On behalf of the Executive Committee,
Olivier Rigaud
