Overall organic sales flat compared to last year, refinish down mid-single digits on comparison to record quarter in 2023.
PPG (NYSE:PPG) reported net sales of $4.794 billion for the second quarter of 2024, down 2% from $4.872 billion in the second quarter last year. Net income was $528 million, up 8% from 490 million in the second quarter last year.
According to remarks prepared for PPG’s earnings call with financial analysts, second quarter organic sales for automotive refinish coatings were down by a mid-single digit percentage compared to record performance in the second quarter last year. In the U.S., sales volumes declined compared to record prior-year results and reflecting lower insurance claims.
In Europe, refinish demand was comparable to the same quarter last year and organic sales declined slightly in Latin America. In China, demand for refinish products is recovering and is expected to improve in the coming quarters. In the second quarter, the company grew its Linq services subscriptions and added approximately 230 Moonwalk installations, further supporting customer productivity and related share gain. The company expects third quarter global organic sales to increase by a mid-single-digit percentage compared to the third quarter 2023.
Automotive refinish coatings are expected to return to solid organic growth reflecting incremental price increases and improved year-over-year sales volume.
Tim Knavish, PPG chairman and chief executive officer, commented on the quarter saying, “PPG delivered strong financial results in an increasingly challenging macro-environment. We achieved record reported EPS and adjusted EPS and grew year-over-year adjusted EPS by 11%, marking the sixth consecutive quarter of growth.”
“Overall organic sales were flat, but grew in many of our businesses, including aerospace coatings, packaging coatings, architectural coatings Americas and Asia Pacific, traffic solutions and specialty coatings and materials. This growth was offset by global automotive builds that weakened as the quarter progressed and global industrial production which remained soft. Also, refinish coatings sales were down year over year reflecting a comparison to record prior year results and uneven distributor order patterns, Knavish continued. “Overall European year-over-year sales volume comparisons improved sequentially versus the first quarter, but sales volumes remained unfavorable and were below our initial expectations. Our financial results continued to benefit from our well-established businesses in Mexico and China, our second and third largest countries based on revenue.”