Evonik grows earnings 40% and still plans 3,200 more job cuts to 2029

Evonik's adjusted EBITDA rose 40% in the third quarter. In the same set of numbers, it put aside €313 million to cut deeper. The German specialty chemicals group reported on 3 November and, according to European Coatings, has extended its Evonik Tailor Made efficiency programme to 2029.

The numbers

Adjusted EBITDA came in at €629 million. Sales rose 13%, driven mostly by price (up 10%) with volumes up 2%. Investing.com's report, carried by Yahoo Finance, puts sales at €3.83 billion and the adjusted margin at 16.4%, up from 13.2% a year ago.

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The heavy lifting came from Advanced Technologies, where adjusted EBITDA rose 87% to €377 million. Custom Solutions, the additives-heavy segment that includes coatings and paint additives, grew more slowly: up 7% to €231 million on flat volumes.

Evonik now expects full-year adjusted EBITDA in the upper half of its €2.0 to 2.2 billion range. Investing.com reports it also warned that the favourable conditions of the third quarter would keep weakening through the rest of the year.

The cuts

The restructuring provision pushed the group to a net loss of €53 million. Investing.com reports that the extended programme means a further 3,200 job cuts between 2027 and 2029, on top of 2,800 already planned for 2024 to 2026.

Portfolio work is carrying on in parallel. The sale of Oxeno, the C4 chemicals business, is progressing, with a buyer expected in the coming months, and Evonik is preparing to sell Syneqt, which runs the Marl and Wesseling chemical parks.

"Our strategic positioning is fully paying off." Claus Rettig, interim CEO, Evonik

The BASF backdrop

All of this lands a few days after Evonik decided not to open merger talks with BASF. Börse Global reported on 2 November that BASF CEO Markus Kamieth still doesn't want a deal at any price, and that he sees 2028 as the earliest a deal could close because of regulatory approvals. Evonik is going it alone for now, and these results are its case for doing so.

What it means for R&D software

For vendors selling into Evonik's R&D teams, a programme that runs to 2029 sets the tone for every budget conversation in between. Fewer people in labs and support functions usually means more pressure on the tools that remain to show a clear return: faster formulation cycles, less repeat testing, better reuse of old experimental data.

That's a harder sale than a pure innovation pitch, but it's a real one. Vendors that can tie their platform to headcount-neutral output, rather than nice-to-have features, will find Evonik's R&D leaders still have reasons to buy.

What it means for hiring

In our view, cost-led buyers reward account teams who can build a business case in euros. Expect vendors to hire value engineers and enterprise account leads with chemicals experience, not generic SaaS sellers.
Cuts on this scale tend to bring experienced R&D, digital and lab-systems people to market over several years. That's a steady pool for pre-sales, solution consulting and customer success roles at informatics vendors.
Specialty chemicals groups going it alone typically lean harder on internal digital teams. People who can sit between R&D and IT will stay in demand on both the buyer and vendor side.

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