Solvay releases Integrated Report and Annual Report
02 April 2021 - 8:30AM
Solvay releases Integrated Report and Annual Report
In 2020, Solvay overcame headwinds to deliver strong
financial performance, as well as significant progress on
sustainability goals.
Brussels, April 2, 2021, 8:30 CEST - Solvay
today released its Integrated Report and Annual Report.
The fully digital Integrated Report provides a
comprehensive and integrated view of Solvay’s economic,
environmental, and social performance for 2020. The Annual Report
offers a detailed view of Solvay’s governance practices, risk
management, business review, economic, environmental, social and
financial performance for 2020.
Although the year 2020 came with substantial
challenges, each of them showcased the breadth and depth of
Solvay’s strengths. As a leader in providing solutions to some of
the world’s most pressing needs, in 2020 we were able to supply
numerous products to help manage the pandemic. We were also able to
continue to address increasing needs to:
- Conserve scarce resources;
- Ramp up hyper-connectivity;
- Support mobility;
- Prioritize clean sources of energy;
- Make healthcare and sanitization solutions more
accessible;
- Enable more efficient, cleaner product manufacturing; and
- Increase agricultural yields.
Solvay accomplished all this while moving toward
a low-carbon and more inclusive global economy.
Sustainability is integrated in all our key
strategic decisions, including research and innovation, capital
expenditure, M&A activities and investment decisions. The 2020
Annual Report documents this convergence, and should be read in
complement of the 2020 Integrated Report.
Here are just a few highlights from these:
Financial sustainability
Knowing that financial sustainability is the
foundation for all other types of sustainability, we took numerous
steps to enhance our financial foundation and performance,
including by:
- Delivering seven straight quarters of strong free cash
flow;
- Achieving cost savings of €332 million; and
- Reducing net debt by €1.2 billion.
- Making exceptional contributions to our pension plan to put us
on track to reduce pension cash costs by €100 million per
year;
- Structurally improve working capital, including reducing
receivable overdue levels to a low single-digit record amount.
Leaders in areas of rapidly growing
demand
In 2020, we took numerous significant steps to
align our core products, services, and competencies with the most
rapidly growing markets, regulatory, policy, and scientific
demands, including:
- Launching two virus fighting innovations, which helped prevent
the spread of COVID-19;
- Adding a Key Accounts Program that is generating new business
from our largest clients, while renewing long-term aerospace
contracts;
- Providing advanced materials to support growing demand for
hyper-connectivity;
- Supporting the semiconductor sector with key chemicals and
materials;
- Supplying polymers for new generation OLED and flexible
displays;
- Launching our Green Hydrogen Platform;
- Supplying key materials to the 3D printing sector and
partnering with software companies to provide complete 3D printing
solutions;
- Supplying innovative products to meet the world’s new standards
for cleanliness.
Positioning Solvay as a sustainable
company
We took numerous steps to strengthen our
commitments, including:
- Launching Solvay ONE Planet aligned with our G.R.O.W. strategy
and Purpose;
- Decreased structural greenhouse gas emissions by 8% since 2018,
which is more than twice the annual average required by the Paris
Agreement;
- Adding Science-Based Targets;
- Coal phase-out and deployment of an energy transition
programme;
- Creating innovative products that support human health
including two key antiviral products and a large number of personal
protection equipment items;
- Supplying bio-based ingredients to the organic and natural
consumables markets;
- Partnering with Mitsubishi to recycle more advanced
materials;
- Initiating a battery recycling partnership with Veolia and
ramping up our programs that extract and purify key battery
Elements.
Putting our people first
We took numerous steps to recruit, retain,
protect, listen to, value, and support our employees. In 2020,
we:
- Created the Solvay Solidarity Fund to help employees adversely
affected by the pandemic;
- Enabled remote working as the Group’s global standard;
- Added pulse surveys that occur every six weeks to our many
employee communications programs;
- Strengthened talent pipeline with programs encouraging
STEM-related careers and educational sessions; and
- Set a goal of achieving gender parity amongst our mid- and
senior level managers by 2035.
“I’m so proud of what our team was able to
accomplish in 2020: we delivered record free cash flow, achieved
significant cost savings and made great strides on our Solvay One
Planet commitments,” said Solvay CEO Ilham Kadri.
“2020 was the year that we brought our Purpose – to bond people,
ideas and elements to reinvent progress – to life. We demonstrated
that we were essential to the world and we actually capitalized on
the crisis, accelerating reforms to unleash our company’s full
potential. Today, I can proudly assert that we have emerged
stronger.”
The Integrated report includes a video
highlighting how Solvay made progress on its sustainability
commitments. Watch Bonding for a better planet: Our
sustainability performance in 2020
Solvay’s Integrated Report is aligned with the
guiding principles and content elements of Integrated Reporting, as
defined by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC).
In November 2020, Solvay’s CEO signed a commitment with the World
Economic Forum International Business Council (IBC) to pilot a new
set of metrics for stakeholder capitalism aligned with the
Manifesto published at Davos in 2020.
Solvay today also publishes its 2020 report on
payment to governments. This document is available in the Financial
filings section of Solvay's website.
- Solvay 2020 Annual Report
- Solvay 2020 payments to governments
- PR english - Solvay releases Integrated Report and Annual
Report
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