Hempel on superb footing as five-year strategy concludes

The year 2025 marked the end of Hempel’s ambitious five-year Double Impact strategy, a strategy which now places the company on a record financial footing and has strengthened it in many different ways. As has been felt by all of the coatings industry, the global backdrop of 2025 was one of increasing geopolitical tensions and uncertainty, low consumer confidence and adverse exchange rates internationally. Yet despite this, Hempel achieved record margins and more than doubled its net profits relative to 2024. Total revenues reached €2.165 billion in 2025, down slightly from €2.185 billion in the previous year, while at the bottom line, net profits were seen swelling from €80 million to €168 million. Organic growth at Hempel amounted to 3.4% in 2025, and all of its margins were at record or joint-record levels – namely for gross margin, EBITDA (adjusted and unadjusted) and operating profit.

The company enjoyed a sizeable list of achievements throughout 2025 across the three main sectors of its participation: decorative, marine and energy & infrastructure:

• In the decorative sector, with Hempel now firmly entrenched in the UK and Australian markets, the company launched the new Flat Eggshell paint by Farrow & Ball – a low-sheen but super-tough finish that can be applied to metal, concrete and interior wood. The UK-centred operations did well; Crown Paints, its mass-market decorative operations and its luxe-end Farrow & Ball outfit prospered too. Farrow & Ball strengthened its position in the USA with a new studio retail format. Outside the UK, many decorative markets were seen softening, ostensibly in Australia (Wattyl operations) and the Middle East. Collectively, organic growth in decorative paints amounted to 0.6%.

• In the marine sector, Hempel launched its first silicone hull coating – Hempaguard NB – for marine newbuilds. Marine was by far the most prosperous growth segment for the company, turning in 9.8% organic growth in 2025. Despite strong competition, Hempel flourished in winning new business with its high-performing marine coatings and double-digit growth was achieved in both the dry-dock and newbuild markets, surpassing the company’s record performance in these areas from 2023.

• In the energy sector, Hempafire Extreme was introduced, a product that raised the bar for fire safety. The infrastructure business performed well across Hempel’s key technologies, but the energy sector was hampered by weakness in the oil & gas sectors in the Americas and Middle East regions. Although there was some compensation through winning new business in Asia, especially with renewables, and continued growth in offshore wind tower coatings, the organic growth in the combined energy & infrastructure operations amounted to 0.1% overall.

There were many geographical positives for Hempel in 2025, including the opening of a new office at Pune, in India, and new customers in South Korea and China. The company’s facility in Zhangjiagang reached full capacity last year too. On the slightly more negative geographical perspective (depending upon how one considers it), Hempel Industrial NV in the Netherlands was divested to Portugal’s CIN Group.

A particular major milestone for Hempel in 2025 was its first full year in partnership with CVC Funds which has been implemented with the objectives of accelerating the company’s organic growth and bringing external resources to benefit Hempel’s growth and value creation objectives. CVC Funds also has much experience in integrating acquired business, should Hempel push further into new markets, either by country or by segment. Hence from 2026 onwards, Hempel is pursuing a new strategy: Accelerate to win.

With the aforementioned backdrop of 2025 persisting and arguably intensifying with oil price uncertainty and a more fraught geopolitical world map, Hempel anticipates low-digit organic growth again in the current year, with its EBITDA margin held at about 18% (roughly the same as 2025).

Jotun prospers in all sectors

A rather skeletal outline of Jotun’s performance released by the company for 2025 revealed that operating revenues increased by 0.4% to NOK 34,333 million last year, with an associated operating profit increase of 4.7% to NOK 7,081 million. Pre-tax profits also rose by 16.7% to a total of NOK 6,824 million. However, the company’s annual report shows that net cash flow from activities leapt by more than 50% to NOK 6,466 million. Other more detailed aspects of Jotun’s performance in 2025 are highlighted below:

• Decorative paints are the largest segment of participation at Jotun and currently account for 37% of its sales. Jotun enjoys a strong presence in the premium decorative coatings sector and one of its key achievements last year was the introduction of Trebitt wood stain in a matte finish in Scandinavia. Elsewhere, the company’s top-level performance in decorative paints was shored up by a host of premium decorative paints that had been launched previously in the Middle East and in parts of Southeast Asia. Retail forms an especially important part of Jotun’s decorative experience and 2025 saw the company roll out its new Jotun Shop Concept – a standardized showroom design with a focus on comfort and space as part of the customer’s purchasing experience. By the end of 2025 more than 1,000 retailers had converted to Jotun’s Shop Concept.

• Protective coatings are the second-largest sphere of activity (but only just!) at 29% of Jotun’s sales and 2025 was a year for record-high sales in this area. Offshore wind coatings were the clear leader for Jotun, with fire protection coatings for the oil & gas industry not far behind. Sales to some mega infrastructure projects may have been delayed, yet the company found alternative markets in the intumescent coatings area.

• Not far behind with 28% of Jotun’s sales lies marine paints. Double-digit sales growth was achieved here, supported by the newbuild, seastock and drydock markets.  Greater regulation in the marine sector is also winning Jotun considerable interest in its Hull Skating Solutions (HSS), which became commercially available last year. Two launches of SeaQuantum and SeaQuest marine paints were also effected in 2025.

• At 7% of its total turnover, powder coatings form the smallest coatings sector at Jotun, yet despite that fact, this area delivered a record year for Jotun in 2025. Powder coatings flourished in many contrasting areas, especially in architectural applications in India and the Middle East. In Asia, powder coatings for EV batteries were a winner in China. Jotun plans to invest in a bonded metallic factory in Malaysia this year, following up on a similar investment in Dubai from 2024.

Also in 2026, Jotun expects the marine coatings market to start slowing (the same for 2027) but with some compensation arriving from more maintenance sales and ongoing activity in serving building yards. Its decorative sector activities for 2026 are focused on its Soulful Spaces colour collection, which is arranged across three themes (Passage of Time, Art of Stillness and Joyful Living) that each house eight colours. Part of the company’s long-running Global Colour Trends, the 2026 range is a particularly photo-driven effort that appeals in the sophisticated end of the decorative market, playing to the effects that can be created through light and mood.

Interestingly, in both the 2025 annual reports from Jotun and Hempel there are increasing mentions of the importance of digital services for industry and digital support services for the crucial points where decisions are taken. There are also refinements being made in manufacturing where automation and digitalization continue to be implemented in order to increase manufacturing efficiencies.