BRAZIL – Despite the impacts of the paralysis of economic activities throughout 2020, Duratex closes the year with consolidated sales revenue of BRL 5,879.6 million, 17.3% above 2019. This performance is due to the pricing strategy and the focus on export volumes, in addition to the recovery of the company and markets.

In the first half of 2020, with the effects of economic paralysis amid the pandemic scenario, the Company experienced a sharp drop in its results. In the second half demand picked up, and a couple of rapid actions and productivity gains derived from the strategic projects carried out in recent years – such as factory consolidation, portfolio reduction and asset optimization – led Duratex to achieve a 41.7% increase in Adjusted and Recurring EBITDA for the year, totaling BRL 1,288.3 million, while the margin closed in the period at 21.9%, 3.8 points above 2019.

In addition, Duratex continued to conquer new external markets in 2020, such as the United States, which led to exports growing more than 26.9% compared to 2019, accounting for 18.0% of total 2020 sales.

In the last quarter of 2020 Duratex consolidated its growth. Net sales totaled BRL 1,893.6 million in 4Q/2020, an increase of 27.4% over the same period last year. This result is in line with the successful price increase policy, as well as the accelerated demand recovery, in which all divisions show strong growth in sales volume.

The maintenance of high levels of industrial use, allowing greater operational efficiency, coupled with the successful implementation of price increases in all divisions, especially the Wood Division, caused the Company to exceed the record result achieved in the previous quarter, closing the 4T-2020 with adjusted and recurring EBITDA of BRL 516.2 million and a margin of 27.3%.

In the fourth  quarter, the Wood Division dispatched 848.7 thousand m3, 29.8% more than the fourth quarter of 2019, while the year’s shipments reached 2. 82 million m3, 12. 9% above 2019. This increase, above the market, prompted it to present relevant market share gains across all of its product lines, especially in coated products, whose sales growth was 35.1% in the quarter and 13. 8% in the year compared to the same periods in 2019. In the foreign market, despite the strong impact of COVID-19 on Latin American countries, the Company’s main markets, increased sales to diversified markets and the strategy of strengthening exports, resulted in an increase of approximately 60% and 30% in volumes exported in the quarterly and annual comparison.