Annual Report 2022: Topsoe delivers strong revenue growth in challenging environment

Annual Report 2022: Topsoe delivers strong revenue growth in challenging environment

Topsoe, a global leader in carbon emission reduction technologies, today released its financial results for 2022.

Financial highlights

• Revenue increased by 10% to DKK 6,845 million driven by strong demand for Topsoe’s energy transition solutions. 

• Topsoe closed down its business in Russia including its Moscow office. Revenue growth excluding Russia was 18%. 

• EBIT before special items declined by 33% to DKK 608 million. The positive development of our underlying business was significantly impacted by a number of factors including: the closing down of our Russian business; the inflation-driven margin squeeze; higher production costs caused by raw material shortages; and costs related to the upscaling of our Power-to-X organization.

Operational highlights

• Political momentum, such as the EU plan for energy independence, RePowerEU, and the Inflation Reduction Act in the US, provided significant tailwinds for Topsoe’s strategy and solutions, underlining the importance and scope of Topsoe’s role in the green energy transformation. 

• As a result of the significant interest in Topsoe’s decarbonization solutions, Topsoe enabled its customers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 16 million tonnes – equivalent to 40% of Denmark’s annual greenhouse gas emissions. 

• Topsoe committed to become carbon neutral in its operations by the end of this decade, as we work towards becoming net-zero in 2040.

Roeland Baan, CEO, Topsoe said:
“Despite the challenges we’ve faced in 2022, we’ve been able to deliver strong revenue growth. This demonstrates the resilience of our business, and that there is a significant interest in our solutions for the energy transition. Global uncertainty, inflation and supply chain challenges affected our earnings, but we managed to address these issues in a timely manner, which positively impacted the second half of 2022. We remain committed to the energy transition and continue to upscale our low-carbon offerings and our Power-to-X organization to deliver on our ambitions.”

Strong revenue growth in a challenging market environment
In 2022, revenue increased by 10% to DKK 6,845 million versus DKK 6,225 in 2021. When we adjust for currency changes, mainly USD driven, our revenue increased by 4%. This was driven by strong demand for Topsoe’s energy transition solutions, especially in our renewable business.

As the invasion of Ukraine began in early 2022, Topsoe closed down its business in Russia, which had a negative impact on revenue and growth. Growth excluding Russia was 18%, and 12% in fixed currencies.

We continue to see a growing interest in our technologies for low-carbon hydrogen and renewable fuel projects. These have been the technologies of choice for customers in the US market. We’re also supporting shipping and aviation decarbonization projects and have been awarded a large majority of the projects we bid on in 2022.

The Americas region has been the fastest growing market in 2022 with overall growth of 16% aided by favorable USD exchange rate development. We expect to achieve high double-digit growth in our Americas region also in 2023.

EBIT before special items declined by 33% to DKK 608 million. Closing down our business in Russia had a significant negative impact on EBIT, and the otherwise positive developments to our underlying business were partly outweighed by inflation-driven margin squeeze, higher production costs caused by raw material shortages, as well as costs associated with upscaling of our Power-to-X organization.

Topsoe remains committed to the green transition. As part of developing new energy solutions, we invested 8.6% of revenue in R&D, which is in line with previous years.

Major support for green energy transition by way of global policy
2022 saw monumental climate legislation, such as the US Inflation Reduction Act and the European Union’s REPowerEU, as well as ambitious national initiatives in China, Germany, and India. These provide major tailwinds for Topsoe’s strategy and solutions by accelerating the demands for new energy carriers such as green hydrogen, green ammonia, biofuels, and synthetic fuels.

Helping our customers reduce their greenhouse gas emissions
In 2022, Topsoe enabled its customers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 16 million tonnes – equivalent to 40% of Denmark’s annual greenhouse gas emissions. The achievement reflects Topsoe’s commitment to UN’s Sustainable Development Goal no. 13 on Climate Action and our declared ambition to take the lead on decarbonization.

We are also committed to reducing our own carbon footprint and have set ambitious climate targets in line with our commitment to the Science Based Targets initiative. It is our ambition to achieve net-zero by 2040.

Outlook
Topsoe expects 2023 revenue to be in the range of DKK 7,500-8,500 million based on entering 2023 with a healthy order book. The EBIT margin for 2023 is expected to be in the range of 8.0-10.0%.

Topsoe’s business, excluding Power-to-X, is expected to return to an EBIT level in line with the EBIT achieved in 2021 before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This is despite our decision to close down all Russia and Belarus-related activities, including our Russian subsidiary and operations – equivalent to 10% of Topsoe’s revenue in 2021.

The global energy transition will continue to drive our growth, and 2023 is expected to be a milestone year for Topsoe in many regards. Our Power-to-X business will, for the first time, deliver a meaningful and visible contribution to the topline. We also plan to significantly increase our investments in Power-to-X, including the world’s largest SOEC (Solid Oxide Electrolyzer Cell) factory in Herning, Denmark, which will bring capital investments to an all-time high in 2023, surpassing DKK 2 billion.

Financial key figures, five-year summary

1) IFRS 16 was implemented in 2019 using the modified retrospective approach, and comparative figures for 2018 have not been restated.

Read more in our Annual Report

Forward-looking statements
Topsoe A/S’ financial reports, whether in the form of annual reports or interim reports, as well as any presentations based on such financial reports, and any other written information released, or oral statements made, to the public based on this annual report or in the future on behalf of Topsoe A/S, may contain forward-looking statements.

 These forward-looking statements are based on current plans, estimates and projections. By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, which may be outside Topsoe A/S’ influence, and which could materially affect such forward-looking statements.

 Topsoe A/S cautions that a number of factors, including those described in the risk management part of this report, could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in any forward-looking statements.

About Topsoe 
Founded in 1940, Topsoe is a global leader in developing solutions for a decarbonized world, supplying technology, catalysts, and services for worldwide energy transition. 

Our mission is to combat climate change by helping our partners and customers achieve their decarbonization and emission-reduction targets, including those in challenging sectors: aviation, shipping, and production of crucial raw materials. From low-carbon or zero-carbon chemicals to renewable fuels and plastic upcycling, we are uniquely positioned to aid humanity in realizing a sustainable future. 

Topsoe is headquartered in Denmark, with 2,400 employees serving customers all around the globe. To learn more, visit www.topsoe.com 

For more information, please contact:
Ulrik Frøhlke, Media Relations Manager
Phone: +45 27 77 99 68
Mail: ulfr@topsoe.com