PPG yearly sales rise, margins fall

PPG reported 2022 full year net sales of nearly $17.7 billion, 5% higher than prior year’s net sales of approximately $16.8 billion.

Net income for the full year however decreased to $1.03 billion compared to $1.42 billion in the previous year, a drop of 28%

The company’s fourth quarter sales were relatively unchanged at $4.185 billion compared to last year’s $4.190 billion. Q4 net income dropped to $238 million from $267 million in Q4 last year, a decrease of 11%.

Tim Knavish, president and CEO of Pittsburgh-based PPG said the “earnings improvement was driven by aggregate selling price increases that totaled 19% on a two-year stacked basis, as we remained focused on mitigating the significant cumulative cost inflation incurred the past two years.”

In the Performance Coatings segment for Q4, net sales decreased to $2.49 billion, down 1% Y-O-Y, primarily due to lower sales volumes, the impact of divestitures, the wind down of business in Russia, and unfavorable foreign currency translation impacts, but were nearly all offset by selling price increases in all businesses, said the firm.

The Industrial Coatings segment Q4 net sales rose modestly, said PPG, to $1.69 billion, up 1%. 

The Bottom Line: PPG sales moved ahead 5% for the full year 2022 but income fell 28%.

What the CEO said: “We continued to make good progress on our focus to achieve full operating margin recovery, as year-over-year earnings improved in both segments despite more acute pandemic-related demand disruptions in China,” said Tim Knavish, president and CEO of PPG.

Company info: Click HERE to read the 2022 full year and fourth quarter financial report from PPG.