Petri comments:
“Kemira published its Q4 results this morning, which fell slightly short of forecasts due to profitability declining more than expected. However, the overall picture of the report is mitigated by the fact that the guidance given for the current year easily meets market expectations and the company is raising its dividend more than consensus estimates.”
Full comment behind the link:
Today, we also published the notice of the Annual General Meeting. Kemira’s Annual General Meeting will be held on Thursday, March 20, 2025, at 1:00 p.m. in the Veranda Hall of Finlandia Hall. 2024 was a strong year for Kemira, so the Board of Directors proposes increasing the dividend to EUR 0.74 per share. Registration for the meeting begins on February 25, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. Shareholders who have registered for the Annual General Meeting can participate in person or follow the meeting via a live remote connection. More on the Annual General Meeting page: https://kemira.com/yhtiokokous2025
Here’s the interview with CEO Antti Salminen that I did with Flik at the company’s headquarters in Salmisaari!
Topics timestamped:
00:00 Year 2024
00:55 Forest sector recovery
02:25 China situation
03:28 Guidance
04:50 Dividend
05:30 Balance sheet strength
06:28 M&A strategy
07:40 New organizational model
Petri has made a new company report right after Q4 on Kemira. 
Kemira’s Q4 result was operationally slightly below expectations, and this overall picture was reinforced by larger negative non-recurring items than forecast. On the other hand, the current year’s guidance exceeded the expectation bar. Reflecting this, we have made only very slight changes to our forecasts for the coming years. Thus, we reiterate our target price of 23.0 euros and our “add” recommendation. In our view, the stock’s valuation is moderate, and we see upside potential from the current level. Kemira’s CEO’s Q4 interview can be viewed from this link.
Apparently, Kemira is not the “people’s stock” of the Inderes discussion forum.
I am terribly overweight in Kemira because my investing started back then as a kind of attack against inflation, and I have some basic knowledge of the industry.
The result was decent and good.
What concerns me most is boosting organic growth through acquisitions. I don’t have the competence to assess Kemira’s competence in growing through acquisitions.
I am very satisfied with the organic growth and management.
You are not necessarily alone in your thoughts; when Kemira was discussed on inderesTV, @Petri_Gostowski also hinted that acquisitions might concern the market. Not so much anymore the sustainability of profitability improvement. Timestamps for the topics can be found below the video.
Topics:
00:00 Start
00:13 What did the market get scared of in the report?
01:13 Sustainability of profitability improvement
02:53 Acquisitions will be made – that’s for sure
04:45 What might the market be thinking?
Greetings to the forum! Kemira’s Annual Report 2024 has been published today. You can find the full report here (in English): Annual Report 2024 - Kemira. Materials published in Finnish can be found here: Raportit ja esitykset - Kemira
Apparently, the entire annual report is not available in Finnish?
Even though many parts of it are available in Finnish and English is somewhat manageable, it would be great to get the whole package in Finnish.
However, there’s a lot of technical vocabulary, so a Finnish version would certainly provide more insight and be easier to read and internalize everything. 
Hi. Thank you for your message, and I understand your perspective very well. There is always a lot of discussion about language versions, but it was decided a few years ago that the Annual Review, i.e., the descriptive part, would only be done in English. We are now updating our investor-oriented websites after the report has been published, and our website also contains a lot of information in Finnish.
He became my interviewee. Thanks, Mikko!
CEO Antti Salminen’s review from yesterday’s Annual General Meeting!
Kemira will publish its January-March results on Friday, April 25. More information here. Our newsletter preceding the silent period can be read here.
Here is a fresh pre-earnings report from Petri on Kemira, as Kemira publishes its results this Friday
Similar to the consensus, we predict the company’s result to have declined from a rather strong comparison period level. We also expect the company to reiterate its guidance for the current year. We have updated our forecast model to account for the change in reporting structure, in connection with which we have marginally reviewed our forecasts for the coming years. Reflecting the moderate share valuation, we reiterate our ‘add’ recommendation and our target price of 23 euros.
The surcharge will be a minimum of five percent.
Chemical company Kemira announced that it will impose a minimum five percent surcharge on products and services sold in the United States. The surcharges will take effect at the beginning of May.
According to Kemira’s press release, the measure responds to a significant increase in costs resulting from recent trade-related actions. The fee is intended to partially compensate for the increased costs.
“We will continue to closely monitor the global situation and are prepared to take decisive, market-based actions to adjust the surcharge as needed. We value our customers, and they are always at the center of our decision-making,” said Michael Cavallero, SVP of Kemira’s Commercial Water Solutions, in the press release.
Here are Petri’s quick comments on Kemira’s Q1 results.
Kemira published its Q1 results this morning, which were broadly in line with our forecasts but slightly below consensus estimates. The company reiterated its guidance for the current year as expected, but slightly lowered the underlying assumptions for market demand. Kemira’s Q1’25 earnings review can be followed from this link starting at 10:30 AM
How negatively does the current decrease in electricity prices affect Kemira’s profitability in the long term, given that this was a significant benefit in recent years? There were a couple of questions about this today during the Q1 Q&A session. @Petri_Gostowski
As I understand it, Kemira benefited above all from the energy price difference between Northern and Central Europe. Especially during the energy crisis, in products like peroxide, where Kemira has manufacturing in Finland and which is very energy-intensive.
Greetings to the forum. The recording of today’s Q1 webcast is available here: Interim report January-March 2025
Reflections on Kemira’s Q1 results.
Although the valuation doesn’t demand much, Kemira’s Q1 results, in my opinion, deliver good performance. The operational EBITDA of 135.5 million euros and an EBITDA margin of 19.1% are, in my opinion, strong figures, especially in the current operating environment. The operating profit of 85.6 million euros and earnings per share of €0.38 in Q1 are both decent figures. They demonstrate the company’s ability to maintain a good level of profitability despite uncertainties.
The Water Solutions business unit’s EBITDA margin of 21% is an excellent performance and indicates strong pricing power and efficiency. Overall, the profitability of this business unit appears quite strong for the future as well, and it excellently compensates for the decline in the Packaging & Hygiene Solutions business unit.
Kemira maintained its full-year 2025 outlook as stable (revenue 2800-3200 million euros and operational EBITDA 540-640 million euros). As stated, Kemira expects uncertainty to particularly impact the packaging markets, while the water treatment market is anticipated to grow in all regions. This bodes well specifically for the Water Solutions business and long-term growth drivers (the need for industrial and municipal water treatment solutions).
Here is Kemira’s strategy. Are we on the right track?
The company’s intention to expand its water business into new technologies and new geographical areas, both organically and through acquisitions, is, in my opinion, good and growth-oriented (global water and wastewater treatment growth). Kemira has a strong balance sheet, which enables it to grow inorganically.
Kemira’s strategy includes increasing the market presence of renewable solutions (bio-based chemicals) products, aiming for related revenue to exceed half a billion by 2030. This remains to be seen, but if realized, it will certainly bring good results.
In addition, Kemira aims to apply its extensive expertise to other areas, such as fiber-based textiles. In practice, for Kemira, this means selling the company’s solutions to the textile industry. A new and rapidly growing sector, especially when environmentally friendlier alternatives are sought, could very well bring growth potential for the company.