Markets Served: Architectural, Marine and Protective coatings, Container coatings, Yacht coatings; Decorative coatings

Protective coatings supplier Hempel employs approximately 7,500 people, is present in more than 80 countries and has 26 factories, 15 R&D centers and 27 warehouses around the globe. Decorative coatings comprises 18% of sales, Marine 35%, Infrastrucuture 24%, Energy 18% and Other 5%.

2023 Success Story

Last year, Hempel maintained sharp focus on innovations to develop more sustainable solutions to meet its customers’ needs, enabling them to lower their CO2 footprint, while protecting and beautifying their assets. We made significant progress on our ambition to become the sustainability leader within our chosen industries in paints and coatings. Some great examples of this are the DNV verification of Hempaguard X7, which means that its impressive impact on fuel savings and speed loss have now been third-party validated, as well as the launch of our biocide-free hull coating solution, Hempablue, and the launch of our Product Data Sheets for increased customer transparency.

In 2020, we set a target of having 50% recycled plastic in the primary packaging of our Decorative products by 2025. In 2023, we managed to reach 49% recycled content (from 0% in 2017). As a result, we decided to expand the scope of our 2025 target to include all plastic packaging (primary and secondary) from across all our customer segments: Decorative, Marine, Energy and Infrastructure.

Another important milestone was Hempel A/S agreeing to enter into a strategic partnership with CVC to accelerate our ambitious long-term organic and inorganic growth strategy. The partnership with CVC will support the acceleration of our organic growth and value creation plan, through increasing investment in the development of new, cutting-edge sustainable technologies for the benefit of our customers, for example. We will benefit from CVC’s deep experience of investing in, and growing businesses organically and through strategic acquisitions.

During the year, we welcomed more high caliber leaders to our Executive Group Management: Peter la Cour Gormsen, CFO and EVP of finance, René Overgaard Jensen, chief transformation & information officer and EVP of digital, strategy & transformation, Ana Henriques, EVP and head of Hempel’s Decorative segment and soon, Emilie Barriau, who will join as CTO and EVP, technology.

We completed the sale of our assets in Russia in July 2023 and exited the market in a responsible way.

Markets Served: Architectural, Marine and Protective coatings, Container coatings, Yacht coatings, Decorative coatings

Protective coatings supplier Hempel employs approximately 7,500 people, is present in more than 80 countries and has 26 factories, 17 R&D centers and more than 150 stock points around the globe. Decorative coatings comprises 18% of sales, Marine 35%, Infrastrucuture 24%, Energy 18% and Other 5%.

Michael Hansen, group president and CEO of Hempel, offered his opinion on the state of the coatings industry and how Hempel is facing key industry trends:

“Across industries, we have has seen a significant increase in the demand for our innovative, sustainable products – such as our silicone hull coatings, which enable marine customers to significantly decrease fuel consumption and reduce their environmental impact as a result.

“At Hempel, we strive to put sustainability at the heart of everything we do. Like all companies, we have a responsibility to lower emissions from our operations and reduce the resources we use, whilst at the same time, continuing to develop products and solutions that support our customers on their sustainability journeys.

“2022 was a challenging year, but we still managed to reach several noteworthy strategic milestones across our portfolio of business areas. Hempel’s Marine business closed the year with revenue of €626 million, an increase of €159 million, corresponding to an impressive organic revenue growth of 33.1 per cent – the highest ever for this business area.

“In addition, we expanded our own store network and range for Decorative customers, launched a ground-breaking new sustainable solution for wind turbine blades, and opened a large new factory in Yantai, marking 30 years with Hempel factories in China.

“In the beginning of 2022, we also simplified our organization, which means that we are now even more closely aligned with our customers. Coupled with a global operations setup, we are now able to avoid certain challenges and better support our customers and employees across geographical boundaries.

“We are on a growth journey here at Hempel, partway through our Double Impact business strategy, which will see Hempel double our revenue to €3 billion in 2025. This year, we’ll be further scaling our business to ensure it is fit for future growth. Continuing on our digitalization journey and delivering on our commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion will also be important focus areas for the year ahead.”

Markets Served: Architectural, Marine and Protective coatings, Container coatings, Yacht coatings, Decorative coatings

Protective coatings supplier Hempel employs approximately 7,500 people, is present in more than 80 countries and has 28 factories, 14 R&D centers and more than 150 stock points around the globe. Decorative coatings comprises 37% of sales, Marine 25%, Infrastrucuture 12%, Energy 14% and Other 11%.

In April 2021 Hempel acquired Wattyl, one of Australia and New Zealand’s leading manufacturers of paint and coatings for the decorative and infrastructure customer segments. In September 2021, Farrow & Ball, a UK-based decorative coatings company with a strong legacy and an iconic brand, became the newest member of Hempel.

Both acquisitions delivered on the company’s expectations in 2021  – adding revenue of €162 million in 2021, with expectations of an annualized full year impact in 2022 of approximately €275 million.

In February 2022, Hempel acquired Omani coatings company, Khimji Paints LLC, to expand its Oman operations and further establish itself as a market leader. This is Hempel’s first acquisition in the Decorative segment in the Middle East, supporting its strategy to double Hempel by 2025. Khimji Paints is a leading paint and coatings manufacturer in Oman, with a strong distribution network of more than 50 own and independent retailers. Khimji Paint was built on a solid foundation of superior quality, true value and excellent customer service, which matches perfectly with Hempel’s purpose and values.

Markets Served: Architectural, Marine and Protective coatings, Container coatings, Yacht coatings, Decorative coatings

Protective coatings supplier Hempel employs approximately 6,200 people, is present in more than 80 countries and has 28 factories, 14 R&D centers and more than 150 stock points around the globe.

Hempel grew its revenue to $1.785 billion in 2020 and demonstrated strong organic growth of 3.2%, despite a declining global coatings market, building on momentum from 2019. The company continued its transformation to become a stronger global company ready to accelerate growth and double the business by 2025.

Despite uncertainty and disruption across regions and markets due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Hempel demonstrated agility and clear priorities concerning the safety of employees, timely and high-quality support to customers, as well as financial robustness to protect future investments. The company had an EBITDA margin of 10.1 percent, including investments in its supply chain in China.

“I am very satisfied with our achievements last year as we managed to deliver a strong performance during unprecedented times. We have now seen organic growth for six quarters in a row and been able to reduce our debt further. This puts us in a strong position for the coming years,” says Lars Petersson, group president and CEO of Hempel.

In particular, 2020 was a strong year for the Marine segment, especially in the Asia Pacific, with many vessels coming into dry dockings for scheduled maintenance. Its leading hull coating, Hempaguard X7, completed 2,000 applications. Since its launch in 2013, it has reduced the combined fuel consumption by 7.6 million tons and lowered vessels’ CO2 emissions by 23.5 million tons.

In the Decorative segment, growth exceeded Hempel’s expectations. This was primarily driven by strong demand in the do-it-yourself markets in the UK and in Germany.

During 2020, Hempel held ground-breaking ceremonies for two large new factories in China, showing its commitment to the region, and finalized its new factory in Saudi Arabia – a combined investment of €49 million during the year and €169 million in total.

Markets Served: Architectural, Marine and Protective coatings, Container coatings, Yacht coatings, Decorative coatings

Protective coatings supplier Hempel employs approximately 6,200 people, is present in more than 80 countries and has 28 factories, R&D centers and more than 150 stock points around the globe.

Financial highlight for Hempel in 2019:

Hempel’s revenue grew by 14 percent in 2019, of which 2.5 percentage points were driven organically. The results are based on organic growth, especially in Asia, a stable EBITDA margin and the first full year with its European Decorative acquisition, J.W. Ostendorf, fully integrated.

Doubling Hempel

Hempel remains fully committed to doubling revenue, which will be achieved through organic growth and acquisitions.

“We will continue to look for new companies to welcome into the Hempel family. Our goal is to double Hempel’s revenue in the next five years to €3 billion and to take a leading position in our core segments: Protective, Marine and Decorative,” said Lars Petersson, group president and CEO.

Sustainability offers new opportunities for Hempel

There is an increased global focus on sustainability and Hempel is determined to make a positive contribution to solving a number of the world’s current and future sustainability issues across segments. Hempel has an important role to play in helping customers on their journeys towards sustainability and sees increased interest in sustainable solutions across segments.

Hempel announced in October 2019 that it had joined the Getting to Zero Coalition, a multi-stakeholder group that aims to see the introduction of commercially viable zero-emission shipping vessels by 2030.

In 2018, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) adopted a strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from shipping by at least 50 percent by 2050 compared to 2008 levels. At the same time, the IMO will pursue efforts to eliminate emissions from shipping altogether – the full decarbonization of the industry.

For this to be possible, zero-emission vessels (ZEV) are essential, which is why the Getting to Zero Coalition was established. A partnership between the Global Maritime Forum, Friends of Ocean Action and the World Economic Forum, it is bringing together industry stakeholders to work towards having commercially viable ZEVs operating along deep-sea trade routes by 2030. Hempel has committed to being a key player in achieving this goal.

Markets Served: Architectural, Marine and Protective coatings, Container coatings, Yacht coatings, Decorative coatings

Protective coatings supplier Hempel recorded sales of $1.49 billion in 2018. Hempel employs approximately 6,500 people, is present in more than 80 countries and has 28 factories, R&D centers and more than150 stock points around the globe.

New CEO Appointed

EVP and COO Lars Petersson on July 1, 2019, will succeed Henrik Andersen as the CEO of Hempel A/S. Petersson joined Hempel in March 2015 as group COO.

“With Lars Petersson’s insight in Hempel, his market insight, his leadership qualities, and the results he has created, Lars has shown that he is just the right person to take over as CEO and continue the journey for Hempel’s future global transformation and growth,” Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hempel A/S Richard Sand said. “The fact that the natural choice of a group president and CEO is an existing top leader from Hempel, shows that we have succeeded in establishing the right leadership team for the future. The Board has high expectations of Lars and his executive management team, and we are looking much forward to continuing the great collaborative work.”

“I have experienced how unique this company is,” Petersson said. “With more than 6,600 dedicated colleagues in 80 countries, a strong value-based culture, a very special customer focus and social engagement, as well as a commitment to always challenging ourselves, I am both enthusiastic and proud to be part of the Hempel family. Hempel is a company where we all work together to execute our strategy and to reach the goals we set for ourselves.

“We will continue our strategic journey, Journey to Excellence, with the purpose of improving in all parameters. The goal is to grow globally being the leader in the coatings industry. We have to be the front-runners in the global consolidation, and we have to be perceived as leading in the segments and markets we choose to compete in.”

Sand commented on Andersen’s departure. “It was with sadness that the Board received Henrik’s resignation. At the same time, we are happy on Henrik’s behalf that he has accepted a new and exciting challenge,” Sand said.

Markets Served: Architectural, Marine and Protective coatings, Container coatings, Yacht coatings, Decorative coatings

Protective coatings supplier Hempel recorded sales of $1.553 billion in 2016. Hempel employs approximately 5,787 people, is present in more than 80 countries and has 28 factories, R&D centers and more than150 stockpoints around the globe.

Hempel A/S recently signed an agreement to acquire 65 percent of one of Germany’s leading manufacturers of decorative paint, J.W. Ostendorf. Following closing of the transaction, JWO becomes part of the worldwide Hempel family.

The investment in JWO is a significant reinforcement in Hempel’s third strategic business area – the decorative business.

“Our decorative business is relatively new and has therefore naturally been a bit overshadowed by the company’s two other strategic business areas, Marine and Protective. This is now over,” Hempel Group President and CEO Henrik Andersen said. “With the investment in JWO, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of decorative paint, we have grown our decorative business significantly and sent a signal that we are ready to do more – in Europe and globally.”

JWO has approximately 750 employees and is located in Coesfeld, North Rhine Westphalia, Germany, and in Cestas, France.

JWO is certified by LGA (derived hygiene standards for paint as for the food industry). Among other things, the production is primarily water-based, but JWO also produces solvent-based products.

JWO is a family-owned company. The former CEO and majority shareholder Michael Ostendorf and his sons Jan and Jens Ostendorf will continue to be involved in the business as shareholders.

Going forward, JWO will be managed on a daily basis by Jan and Jens Ostendorf, who will be responsible for the North and South European markets respectively.

Hempel’s investment in JWO is one of many made during recent years. Besides Crown Paints, Hempel has successfully acquired and integrated companies such as Schaepman (The Netherlands) and Jones Blair (U.S.) into the Hempel family.

Markets Served: Architectural, Marine and protective coatings, Container coatings, Yacht coatings, Decorative coatings

Protective coatings supplier, Hempel, recorded sales of $1.575 billion in 2016. Hempel employs approximately 5,787 people and is present in more than 80 countries and has 28 factories, R&D centers and more than150 stockpoints around the globe.

“2016 has generally been a good year for the coatings industry although the markets are becoming increasingly volatile,” said Henrik Andersen, CEO of Hempel. “Overall, we have seen growth in the market but also a few segments with challenging conditions, notably a further weakening of shipbuilding activity in marine and a limited level of investment in upstream oil and gas.

2016 was also marked by a record level of M&A activity, including a few very big deals. We expect the industry consolidation trend to continue in the coming years. The consolidation trend requires that Hempel has a global presence and continued growth so that we are able to continue servicing our customers globally.”

“We expect the coatings market to remain challenging in 2017, especially the marine and the oil and gas industries where investments remain low,” he continued. “However, we look forward to another year of solid progress with organic growth returning to positive territory, continued strong margins and further reductions in our net working capital. Our internal excellence projects are already beginning to pay-off – not just in terms of cost reductions and greater efficiency, but also by streamlining our processes and developing our capabilities.”

Markets Served: Architectural, Marine and protective coatings, Container coatings, Yacht coatings, Decorative coatings

Protective coatings supplier, Hempel, recorded sales of $1.734 billion in 2015. Hempel employs approximately 5,500 people and is present in more than 80 countries and has 28 factories, R&D centers and more than150 stockpoints around the globe.

The company offers protective coatings for oil and gas, chemical plants, infrastructure, rail, mining and metal processing, pipelines and power generation. In the marine segment the company provides marine maintenance and marine newbuilding products. Hempel also offers both interior and exterior decorative coatings.

Hempel acquired Schaepman’s Lakfabrieken B.V, a Netherlands-based specialist coatings manufacturer with proven expertise in protective and industrial coatings. Hempel also acquired Jones-Blair, a leading North American supplier to the protective and waterproofing markets with a complementary set of skills, products and customers. Hempel’s Protective offerings was bolstered in 2015 by the addition of Jones-Blair products, including the Neogard range of vehicular and pedestrian traffic coatings, protective roof coatings, seamless flooring coatings and elastomeric wall coatings.

Hempel has completed constructiton of its first factory in Russia. This event marks an important step towards fulfilling a vision of providing increased local support and service to customers in Russia and the wider Eurasian region. This new factory is Hempel’s 28th globally, and in Russia, it is the company’s first site for locally produced coatings. The Ulyanovsk factory will produce anticorrosive coatings for the marine repair and shipbuilding, infrastructure, oil and gas, mining and power segments.

Markets Served: Architectural, Marine and protective coatings, Container coatings, Yacht coatings, Decorative coatings

Protective coatings supplier, Hempel, recorded sales of $1.720 billion in 2014. Hempel employs approximately 5,200 people and is present in more than 80 countries and has 27 factories, 48 sales offices and more than150 stockpoints.

The company offers protective coatings for oil and gas, chemical plants, infrastructure, rail, mining and metal processing, pipelines and power generation. In the marine segment the company provides marine maintenance and marine newbuilding products. Hempel also offers both interior and exterior decorative coatings.

Hempel has launched a new combined primer and mid-coat designed specifically for wind towers. The new coating, HEMPADUR 4774D, will be used in Hempel’s well-known two-coat anti-corrosive system for wind turbine towers to address previous UV stability issues. Hempel’s two-coat wind tower protection system dries up to 30 percent faster than equivalent three-coat systems, helping to eliminate production bottlenecks, increase throughput and reduce drying hall costs, the company reported. Since it was first launched in 2008, the system has effectively become the industry standard within two-coat paint systems for wind towers, and around 70 percent of producers using a two-coat system for wind towers choose Hempel. Developed specifically for wind towers, HEMPADUR 4774D will replace the combined primer and mid-coat currently used in Hempel’s two-coat system and will improve the system by addressing previous UV stability issues. Hempel is one of the leading coatings suppliers to the wind energy sector and supplies coatings to more than 50 percent of all wind turbines, towers and blades produced around the world.

Markets Served: Architectural, Marine and protective coatings, Container coatings, Yacht coatings, Decorative coatings

Protective coatings supplier, Hempel, recorded sales of $1.699 billion in 2013. Hempel is present in more than 80 countries and has 25 factories, 48 sales offices and more than150 stockpoints.

The company offers protective coatings oil and gas, chemical plants, infrastructure, rail, mining and metal processing, pipelines and power generation. In the marine segment the company provides marine maintenance and marine newbuilding products. Hempel also offers both interior and exterior decorative coatings.

Hempel launched HEMPAGUARD, a new hull coating concept for the shipping industry which offers both outstanding resistance to fouling during idle periods and significant fuel savings. The technology, dubbed ActiGuard, has been five years in development and is based on silicone-hydrogel and biocide science. Hempel’s tests show excellent fouling resistance of up to 120 days during idle periods plus fuel savings of six per cent on average with HEMPAGUARD.

Hempel offers a performance satisfaction guarantee contract for vessels complying with a full HEMPAGUARD X7 specification. HEMPAGUARD is extremely flexible – a product covering most combinations of sailing routes and trading patterns.

“Our tests have shown that HEMPAGUARD retains its effectiveness when switching between slow and fast steaming anywhere in the world as well as during extended idle periods of up to 120 days. This is particularly interesting for bulk carriers that can be redirected at short notice, as well as larger container vessels and tankers that may wish to increase speed to meet schedules, or slow steam to achieve extra fuel savings,” Claes Skat-Rørdam said.