Glossary

A

Adjusted earnings per share

Basic earnings per share excluding identified items and taxes thereon.

Adjusted EBIT

Adjusted EBIT is adjusted operating income.

Adjusted EBITDA

Operating income excluding depreciation, amortization and identified items.

Adjusted EBITDA margin

Adjusted EBITDA as percentage of revenue. Adjusted EBITDA is operating income excluding depreciation, amortization and identified items.

Adjusted operating income

Operating income excluding identified items.

AGM

Annual General Meeting of shareholders.

ALPS

AkzoNobel Leading Performance System, a company-wide continuous improvement program.
B

BBS

Behavior-based safety. A global program run at all AkzoNobel locations.

Business Partner Code of Conduct

Explains what we stand for as a company, what we value and how we run our business. It brings our core principles of safety, integrity and sustainability to life and shows what they mean in practice.
C

Carbon footprint

The carbon footprint of a product is the total amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused during a defined period of the product lifecycle. It is expressed in terms of the amount of carbon dioxide equivalents CO2(e) emitted.

Circular economy

An economic system which is restorative and regenerative by design, and which aims to keep products, components, and materials at their highest utility and value at all times, distinguishing between technical and biological cycles.

Code of Conduct

Our Code of Conduct defines our core principles and how we work. It incorporates fundamental principles on issues such as business integrity, labor relations, human rights, health, safety, environment and security and community involvement.

Comprehensive income

The change in equity during a period resulting from transactions and other events, other than those changes resulting from transactions with shareholders in their capacity as shareholders.

Constant currencies

Calculations excluding the impact of changes in foreign exchange rates.
E

Earnings per share

Net income attributable to shareholders divided by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the year.

EBITDA

Operating income excluding depreciation, amortization.

EBITDA margin

EBITDA as percentage of revenue.

Eco-performer

An eco-performer is a solution offering clear sustainability benefits, but that is overall on a par with the mainstream offer in the market.

Eco-premium solutions with customer benefits

A measure of the sustainability performance of our products. An eco-premium solution is significantly better than the offer in the market in at least one mainstream criterion (toxicity, energy use, use of natural resources/raw materials, emissions and waste, land use, risks, health and well-being), and not significantly worse in any other criteria. Downstream benefits include a tangible sustainability benefit for our customers.

EMEA

Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Emerging Europe

Central and Eastern Europe (excluding Austria), Baltic States and Turkey.

Emissions and waste

We report emissions to air, land and water for those substances which may have an impact on people or the environment: CO2, NOx and SOx, VOCs, chemical oxygen demand, COD, hazardous and non-hazardous waste.
G

GBS

Global Business Services, which covers functional support activities such as Human Resources, Finance and Information Management, as well as non-product related Procurement.

GHG

Greenhouse gases, including CO2, CO, CH4, N2O and HFCs, which have a global warming impact. We also include the impact of VOCs in GHG reporting.
H

HSE&S

Health, safety, environment and security.
I

Identified items

Identified items are special charges and benefits, results on acquisitions and divestments, major restructuring and impairment charges and charges and benefits related to major legal, anti-trust, environmental and tax cases.

Invested capital

Total assets (excluding cash and cash equivalents, short-term investments, investments in associates, the receivable from pension funds in an asset position, assets held for sale) less current income tax payable, deferred tax liabilities and trade and other payables.
K

Key value chain (KVC)

Used to map the carbon footprint of our businesses. Key value chains are product groupings with similar footprint characteristics, which are representative of the majority of total business revenue/production.
L

LCA

Lifecycle assessments are the basis of our value chain sustainability programs. Eco-efficiency analysis (EEA) is our standard assessment method.

Loss of primary containment

A loss of primary containment is an unplanned release of material, product, raw material or energy to the environment (including those resulting from human error). Loss of primary containment incidents are divided into three categories, dependent on severity, from small, on-site spill/near misses up to Level 1 – a significant escape.

Lost time injury rate (LTIR)

The number of lost time injuries per 200,000 hours worked. Full definitions are in the Sustainability statements section.
M

Mature Europe

Western Europe including Austria.

Mature markets

Western Europe including Austria, the US, Canada, Japan and Oceania.
N

Net debt

Defined as long-term borrowings plus short-term borrowings less cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments.
O

OCF (operational cash flow)

We use operational cash flow to monitor cash generation. It is defined as operating income excluding depreciation and amortization, adjusted for the change in operating working capital and capital expenditures.

Operating income

Operating income is defined in accordance with IFRS and includes the identified items to the extent these relate to lines included in operating income.

Operating working capital

The sum of inventories, trade receivables and trade payables. When expressed as a ratio, operating working capital is measured against four times last quarter revenue.

OPI margin

Operating income as a percentage of revenue.

OTIF

On-time in-full, referring to customer service.
P

P&D Dialog

The Performance and Development Dialog is AkzoNobel’s global performance and appraisal system for employees.
R

R&D

Research & Development.

Regulatory action

We have defined four categories of regulatory action, from self-reported issues (Level 1) to formal legal notifications with fines above €100,000 (Level 4).

ROI (return on investment)

This is a key profitability measure and is calculated as adjusted operating income as a percentage of 12 months average invested capital.

ROS excluding unallocated cost

Adjusted operating income as percentage of revenue, excluding unallocated corporate center costs, consistent with our 2020 guidance.

ROS (return on sales)

This is a key profitability measure and is calculated as adjusted operating income as a percentage of revenue.
S

Safety incident

We have defined three levels of safety incidents. The highest category – Level 3 – involves any loss of life; more than five severe injuries; environmental, asset or business damage totaling more than €25 million; inability to maintain business; or serious reputational damage to AkzoNobel stakeholders.

Shareholders’ equity per share

Akzo Nobel N.V. shareholders’ equity divided by the number of common shares outstanding at year-end.

Supplier sustainability framework

Business Partner Code of Conduct, Supplier Performance Management and Together for Sustainability are all elements of our supplier sustainability framework.
T

Total reportable rate of injuries (TRR)

The number of injuries per 200,000 hours worked. Full definitions are in the Sustainability statements.

TSR (total shareholder return)

Compares the performance of different companies’ stocks and shares over time. Combines share price appreciation and dividends paid to show the total return to shareholders. The relative TSR position reflects the market perception of overall performance relative to a reference group.
V

VOC

Volatile organic compounds.