30 April 2025
WE Soda Ltd (“the Company” and, together with its subsidiaries, “WE Soda”), the world’s largest producer of soda ash, announces its results for the fourth quarter and full year 2024.
Alasdair Warren, Chief Executive Officer, WE Soda, commented:
“We made significant progress in 2024 despite a challenging market backdrop, growing our production, improving our margins quarter by quarter, strengthening our balance sheet and setting the foundations for our acquisition of Alkali, which we completed in early 2025. We are now the leader in our sector, having built the world’s largest soda ash business with only sustainable natural production, and a strong platform from which we can drive the next phase of our growth.
“Today we will publish our third integrated annual report which showcases our business, sets out our 2024 achievements and demonstrates how sustainability is integrated into everything that we do. Please visit www.wesoda.com to read the report or download a copy.”
| Fourth Quarter 2024 | Q4 2023 | Q4 2024 | QoQ |
| Sales Volume (mt million) | 1.4 | 1.3 | (7)% |
| Netback Revenue ($ million) | 284 | 232 | (18)% |
| Adjusted EBITDA ($ million) | 149 | 135 | (9)% |
| Netback Margin | 52% | 58% | +6 ppt |
| Free Cash Flow ($ million) | 100 | 109 | +9% |
| FCF Conversion | 67% | 81% | +14 ppt |
| Capital Expenditure ($ million) | 27.5 | 38.2 | 39% |
| Full Year | 2023 | 2024 | YoY |
| Sales volume (mt million) | 4.9 | 5.1 | +3% |
| Netback Revenue ($ million) | 1,258 | 925 | (26)% |
| Adjusted EBITDA ($ million) | 751 | 502 | (33)% |
| Netback Margin | 60% | 54% | (6) ppt |
| Free Cash Flow ($ million) | 587 | 371 | (37)% |
| FCF Conversion | 78% | 74% | (4) ppt |
| Capital Expenditure ($ million) | 106.3 | 130 | 22% |
Note: Figures may not add up due to rounding.
Safety Excellence Journey: We remain committed to delivering a safer workplace for all. We continued to make good progress to elevate our safety practices to best-in-class international standard, working towards our objective of zero high consequence lost time incidents.
Solid financial performance: Despite weak soda ash demand across all regions and competitive pressures negatively impacting pricing, our sales volumes increased by 3% to 5.1 million mt, and we delivered Adjusted EBITDA per mt of $99.4, at the upper end of our guidance.
The global leader: During 2024, supported by the $210 million sale of our US minority interests to Şişecam, we laid the groundwork for our $1.43 billion acquisition of Alkali, the largest US-based soda ash producer, which we completed in February 2025. We are now the world’s largest producer of soda ash, producing only natural soda ash with a capacity of approximately 9.5 million mtpa. The integration of Alkali’s operations, including ANSAC and its associated global logistics network, will enhance our geographic diversification, strengthen our supply chain, and deepen our customer reach, particularly in South America and Asia.
Capital discipline: Due to the “trough” market conditions experienced during much of 2024, year-end Net Debt increased slightly to $1.48 billion equating to a Net Leverage Ratio of 2.9x. Had the net proceeds from our US minority sale been included, our proforma Net Leverage Ratio would have reduced to approximately 2.5x, as of end January 2025. No shareholder distributions will now be made until our Net Leverage Ratio is within our target range of 1.5x to 2.5x.
Supplier of choice: By developing our own infrastructure in the UK and North-West Europe, and through the acquisition of Alkali in the US and our agreement to acquire SAISA in Iberia, we are broadening our customer reach and direct customer access, and further increasing our supply chain resilience.
Sustainability-as-a-Service: Natural soda ash offers our customers significant sustainability benefits. By partnering with our customers, we are aiming to develop products and solutions that will advance their sustainability ambitions as well as our own, through what we call “Sustainability-as-a-Service”. We believe this will redefine our industry and the way in which we serve our customers.
WE Soda
Chris Perry, Head of Investor Relations and Communications
+44 (0) 208 148 5456
[email protected]
Sodali & Co (Public Relations adviser to WE Soda)
Peter Ogden
+44 (0)207 250 1446
[email protected]
WE Soda is the world’s largest producer of soda ash and one of the world’s largest producers of sodium bicarbonate. Our purpose is “to responsibly produce essential ingredients for a sustainable future” and sustainability is integrated into everything we do. We produce soda ash with the lowest CO2e emissions intensity within our industry and we believe that we have the lowest impact on nature and the environment. For more information, please visit www.wesoda.com.