Ingevity Corporation Reports First Quarter 2025 Financial Results and Provides Revised Full-Year Guidance
Ingevity Corporation , a global specialty chemicals and materials company, announced its financial performance for the first quarter of 2025, demonstrating the strategic impact of recent portfolio repositioning actions and setting the stage for a focused approach to long-term profitability and growth.
First Quarter 2025 Financial Summary
In the first quarter of 2025, Ingevity reported net sales of $284.0 million, a 17% year-over-year decline. This decrease was primarily driven by reduced sales within the Industrial Specialties segment, a consequence of the company’s deliberate strategic repositioning of its Performance Chemicals segment. This repositioning involved exiting certain lower-margin markets, as well as a drop in sales in the Advanced Polymer Technologies segment.
Despite the top-line decline, the company posted net income of $20.5 million and earnings per diluted share (EPS) of $0.56. These results were impacted by $20.2 million in pre-tax special charges, largely related to restructuring costs. When adjusted for these charges, Ingevity recorded adjusted net income of $36.4 million and adjusted diluted EPS of $0.99. The company also reported adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of $91.3 million—an increase of 23% over the prior year. The adjusted EBITDA margin was a robust 32.1%.
The improved EBITDA performance reflects significant gains from the Performance Chemicals segment, where reduced raw material costs and an enhanced product mix—both outcomes of the 2024 repositioning strategy—contributed to margin expansion.
Leadership Perspective
David Li, who was recently appointed as Ingevity’s President and Chief Executive Officer, commented on the results:
“This quarter’s strong performance underscores the effectiveness of our portfolio repositioning efforts, particularly within the Performance Chemicals segment. Our Performance Materials business continues to demonstrate resilience and consistency. I am honored to step into the role of CEO and look forward to advancing our strategic agenda. Our continued focus on optimizing the portfolio and driving operational excellence positions us to deliver best-in-class profitability and superior shareholder value.”
Segment Performance Overview
Performance Materials
Performance Materials delivered net sales of $146.8 million, a 1% year-over-year increase. This growth was driven by higher volumes in China and the broader Asia-Pacific region. In North America, the mix of more fuel-efficient vehicles, which utilize higher-value filtration and emission control products, offset a slight volume decline.
The segment reported EBITDA of $79.1 million, also a 1% increase, and EBITDA margins remained strong at 53.9%. These figures reflect consistent demand across global markets and the segment’s high-margin profile.
Advanced Polymer Technologies
The Advanced Polymer Technologies segment saw a 12% decline in sales, falling to $42.2 million. While volumes increased in both EMEA and North America, these gains were outweighed by reduced demand in Asia.
Despite the revenue drop, segment EBITDA rose to $12.5 million, an increase of $3.0 million year-over-year. EBITDA margin improved to 29.6%. This margin improvement was driven largely by higher utilization rates and proactive inventory build-up ahead of a planned extended outage in the second quarter, during which new boilers will be installed.
Performance Chemicals
The most notable changes occurred within the Performance Chemicals segment, where net sales fell 35% to $95.0 million. This decline was concentrated in the Industrial Specialties product line, which experienced a 50% drop in sales to $50.7 million. The decline was largely the result of strategic actions taken in 2024 to exit certain low-margin end markets.
Sales in the Road Technologies product line totaled $44.3 million, a slight $1.4 million decrease from the prior year.
Segment EBITDA for Performance Chemicals was slightly negative at -$0.3 million. However, this marked a significant improvement of $10.3 million compared to the prior year. The EBITDA gains were attributed to lower raw material costs, cost-saving initiatives, and a better overall product mix—benefits directly stemming from the repositioning strategy.
Liquidity and Financial Position
Ingevity’s operating cash flow for the quarter was $25.4 million, with free cash flow totaling $15.4 million. The improved cash flow performance was aided by disciplined capital spending and favorable working capital developments, including lower raw material costs.
The company did not repurchase any shares during the quarter. However, $353.4 million remains authorized under the existing $500 million share repurchase program.
Ingevity’s net leverage ratio improved to 3.3 times EBITDA, reflecting both enhanced earnings and prudent debt management.
Revised Full-Year 2025 Guidance
CEO David Li also provided updated financial guidance for the full year 2025. The company now expects:
- Full-year sales between $1.25 billion and $1.40 billion
- Adjusted EBITDA between $380 million and $415 million
This guidance revision reflects continued commitment to operational excellence and financial discipline, while also accounting for growing uncertainties in the global economic landscape. The potential impact of strained international trade relations and lowered global auto production expectations prompted the company to widen the guidance range.
“We are confident in our ability to execute on our strategy, optimize profitability, and reduce leverage,” Li noted. “Our globally diversified operations and resilient product portfolio provide the flexibility to adapt to changing market conditions.”
Investor Engagement and Conference Call Details
To discuss the first-quarter results and revised guidance, Ingevity will host a live webcast on Tuesday, May 6, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time.
Listeners can also dial in at 833-470-1428 (U.S. callers) using access code 815699. International participants can find global dial-in numbers here.
For those unable to participate in the live event, a replay will be available starting at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time on May 6, 2025, and will remain accessible through May 5, 2026.
Ingevity Corporation provides high-performance products and technologies that purify, protect, and enhance the world around us. Through its innovative solutions and commitment to sustainability, Ingevity serves customers in demanding industries such as automotive, construction, agriculture, and industrial manufacturing.
The company operates in three primary reporting segments:
- Performance Materials: This segment includes activated carbon used in automotive and industrial applications, particularly for air and water purification.
- Advanced Polymer Technologies: Focused on caprolactone-based polymers, this segment delivers solutions used in bioplastics, adhesives, coatings, and elastomers.
- Performance Chemicals: This diverse segment offers specialty chemicals and technologies for asphalt paving, lubricants, agrochemicals, and other industrial end markets.
Headquartered in North Charleston, South Carolina, Ingevity employs approximately 1,600 people across 24 global locations. Its common stock is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol NGVT. For more information, please visit ingevity.com.
Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
This press release contains non-GAAP financial measures, including adjusted EPS, adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow, which are used by management to evaluate performance. These measures should not be considered a substitute for or superior to financial measures calculated in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).
Reconciliations of non-GAAP financial metrics to their most directly comparable GAAP counterparts are provided in the appendix to this press release. Forward-looking non-GAAP guidance is provided without reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP measures because the timing and amount of excluded items are unpredictable and could result in unreasonable effort or confusion.
Investors are encouraged to review these reconciliations carefully and consider them alongside GAAP metrics to understand Ingevity’s performance and financial health.
This document contains forward-looking statements that are based on management’s current expectations, estimates, and projections. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. For more information on risk factors, investors should refer to Ingevity’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Ingevity remains committed to transparency, innovation, and sustainable value creation, setting a strong foundation for continued growth in 2025 and beyond.
