Materials maker Avient Corp. posted a small sales gain and sizable profit growth for full-year 2024.
Sales at Avon Lake, Ohio-based Avient were up 3 percent to $3.24 billion for the year as profit more than doubled to $170.7 million. In a news release, President and CEO Ashish Khandpur said that, in 2024, Avient grew organic sales in all its operating regions.
"Our goal was to generate organic sales growth with margin expansion, and we delivered both in 2024," he added. "By continuing to focus on our customers, our team achieved these results against a choppy macro environment."
Khandpur also said Avient's 2024 safety performance "represented the safest year in company history, and evidenced that [the firm] will continue to build on the many proven foundational strengths."
Full-year sales at Avient's color, additives and inks unit were up 2 percent to $2.05 billion, with operating profit up 14 percent to $296 million. At the firm's specialty engineered materials unit, 2024 sales were up more than 4 percent to $1.19 billion, with operating profit up almost 18 percent to $167 million.
Officials said 2024 growth in color, additives and inks came from new applications for drug delivery and from the building and construction market, as well as from demand recovery in packaging and consumer. In specialty engineered materials, they said 2024 growth was headlined by strong demand in the defense end market, from composites used in building and construction and from engineered materials used in health care.
2024 was Khandpur's first full year leading Avient. He became the firm's CEO in late 2023, replacing Robert Patterson, who had led the firm since 2014. Khandpur had been with manufacturing and industrial giant 3M Co. for almost 30 years, most recently as group president of the firm's Transportation and Electronics unit. He also previously served as 3M's chief technology officer.
Looking ahead to 2025, Khandpur said, despite near-term uncertainties in the macro environment, Avient "remains focused on what we can control: staying close to our customers and executing our strategy."
CFO Jamie Beggs added that the current macro environment "presents several uncertainties related to policy, inflation, foreign exchange and interest rates which provides for a broader set of potential outcomes for the year."
Avient is one of North America's largest producers of compounds, concentrates, composites and protective fibers. The firm employs more than 9,000 worldwide.