K&S Makes Moves to Reduce Debt
Germany’s K+S is making a series of moves to rapidly generate value and reduce debt. The Kassel-headquartered group said that despite the significant progress achieved in implementing its 2030 strategy, the current global economic turmoil and a continued difficult market for potassium chloride are hampering its efforts to meet its financial targets.
Consequently, K+S has developed a package of measures with a focus on its two operating units in the Americas and Europe.
“The rapid reduction of indebtedness is our top priority. We will now consistently implement the package of measures to crystallize value. We need a solid financial basis to achieve sustainable growth,” said CEO Burkhard Lohr.
K+S pointed out that its new potash plant in Bethune, Canada, alone is worth nearly €5 billion and it has a high-margin portfolio of fertilizer specialties produced in its Americas operating unit and in Germany. Lohr said in an interview with the German business newspaper Handelsblatt that there are no current plans to sell the recent flagship investment outright, though a cooperation may be considered.
“The package of measures aims at realizing some of these assets in the short term and clearly demonstrates a strong commitment to the rapid reduction of indebtedness. It will be developed further in the coming months and then implemented step by step,” K+S said.
The company described its Americas business is “unique” with strong consumer brands and strong cash flows.
In Europe, along with existing transformation plans, K+S wants to carry out additional measures to further enhance efficiency and productivity as well as optimize its portfolio, which ranges from standard and specialty fertilizers to high-margin products for industrial applications and classic salt products for use in the winter.
Under its Shaping 2030 transformation program, K+S aims to realize synergies of more than €150 million annually from the end of 2020. In 2019, the company said it will have already achieved synergies of more than €100 million in procurement, production, logistics, sales and marketing. Additionally, K+S invested more than €130 million in improving German assets to alleviate wastewater problems.
