LyondellBasell Industries NV reported its financial outcomes for the fourth quarter of 2025, showcasing a combination of optimistic revenue performance alongside earnings that did not meet consensus forecasts. The company’s shares experienced upward momentum in after-hours trading following the announcement.
Specifically, the adjusted diluted earnings per share came in at a loss of $0.26, contrasting with analyst expectations of a positive $0.13 per share. In contrast, sales and other operating revenues reached $7.091 billion, exceeding the anticipated $6.799 billion but displaying a decline when compared to $7.808 billion recorded during the same quarter in the previous year.
On a bottom-line basis, LyondellBasell declared a net loss of $140 million for the quarter, or $0.45 per diluted share, marking an improvement relative to a prior-year net loss of $603 million, equivalent to $1.87 per diluted share. Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) stood at $345 million; however, when excluding identified items, EBITDA adjusted upwards to $417 million.
The margin contraction endured across most segments was driven by multiple factors including escalated costs for natural gas liquids (NGL) feedstocks and natural gas itself, maintenance activities, as well as seasonally reduced demand. In particular, both North American and European polyethylene operations experienced downturns in volumes and margin profiles. Meanwhile, the oxyfuel segment saw margin declines but fared better than typical fourth-quarter expectations, benefitting from industry-wide outages earlier in the period.
Reviewing Full-Year 2025 Financial Results
For the entire fiscal year, LyondellBasell recorded a net loss of $738 million, equating to a loss of $2.34 per diluted share, a significant shift from net income of $1.367 billion or $4.15 earnings per diluted share in 2024. When excluding certain identified items, the firm delivered a net income of $563 million and diluted EPS of $1.70.
The EBITDA for the year totaled $1.1 billion, though this figure rose substantially to $2.543 billion after excluding exceptional items. Total sales and other operating revenues accumulated to $30.153 billion during 2025, showing a decrease when compared to $33.394 billion in the prior year.
The company pointed to multiple headwinds for the petrochemical markets, citing global trade interruptions, declining oil commodity prices, and aggregate capacity expansions that outpaced the overall growth in demand. Despite these pressures, LyondellBasell’s Advanced Polymer Solutions unit achieved noteworthy improvements attributed to better margins, deliberate portfolio optimizations, and higher success rates in winning business contracts.
Cash Flow Generation and Capital Management
Operating activities yielded robust cash flows for the company over 2025, generating net cash of $2.262 billion with a high cash conversion rate reaching 95%. Capital expenditures were considerable at $1.9 billion, illustrating the firm's commitment to ongoing investments.
Shareholder returns remained a priority with a total of $1.965 billion distributed in 2025. This included dividend payments amounting to $1.764 billion and share repurchases totaling $201 million.
As of the end of 2025, LyondellBasell reported a comprehensive liquidity position of $8.099 billion. This encompasses cash and cash equivalents plus restricted cash of $3.449 billion, with an additional $3.75 billion accessible through its senior revolving credit facility and $900 million available via a U.S.-based receivables facility.
Strategic Direction and Operational Outlook for 2026
Leadership expressed continued commitment to navigating cyclical volatility while adhering to long-term strategic goals. Chief Executive Officer Peter Vanacker highlighted the success of the ongoing Cash Improvement Plan, which delivered savings of $800 million in 2025, surpassing the initial target of $600 million. Consequently, the company has revised upward its cumulative savings target to $1.3 billion by the end of 2026, forecasting an incremental cash generation of $500 million relative to 2025 actuals.
Further, the planned divestiture of four European assets remains on schedule for completion within the second quarter of 2026. Capital investment plans for the upcoming year include deploying $1.2 billion, with a focus on advancing the MoReTec-1 project’s construction phase.
Looking toward the first quarter operating environment, the company expects to manage ongoing feedstock and energy price volatility while calibrating production volumes in alignment with global demand dynamics. Operational utilization rates are projected as follows: Olefins and Polyolefins Americas facilities at roughly 85%, Olefins and Polyolefins Europe, Africa, and India (EAI) facilities near 75%, and Intermediates and Derivatives assets at approximately 85%.
In market action following the report, LyondellBasell's shares were quoted higher by 1.20%, reaching $50.55 in premarket trading on the day of the announcement.