Trinseo PLC (TSEOQ) FY 2024 MD&A

Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The following discussion summarizes the significant factors affecting the operating results, financial condition, liquidity and cash flows of our Company as of and for the periods presented below. The following discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes thereto, included elsewhere within this Annual Report. The statements in this discussion regarding industry outlook, our expectations regarding our future performance, liquidity and capital resources and all other non-historical statements in this discussion are forward-looking statements and are based on the beliefs of our management, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, our management and are made as of the date of this Annual Report. See “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.” Actual results could differ materially from those discussed in or implied by forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including those discussed below and elsewhere within this Annual Report, particularly in Item 1A—“Risk Factors.” Definitions of capitalized terms not defined herein appear in the notes to our consolidated financial statements.

2024 Highlights

For the year ended December 31, 2024, we had net loss from continuing operations of $348.5 million, including $67.2 million of restructuring and other charges, and Adjusted EBITDA of $203.7 million. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter and year-to-date 2024 improved versus 2023 for all reportable segments except Americas Styrenics principally due to cost savings from previously announced restructuring initiatives, improved product mix, and moderating input costs despite continued weak demand in many of our end markets. The Company continues to have access to capital resources through the refinancings of our debt structure.

New Financing Arrangements

The Company has maintained an accounts receivable securitization facility since 2010 (the “2010 A/R Facility”) for the securitization of trade receivables originated by certain of the Company’s Swiss, German, Dutch and U.S. subsidiaries. On March 28, 2024, the 2010 A/R Facility was amended to, among other things, extend the maturity date to November 2025. On July 18, 2024, in connection with the entry into the 2024 A/R Facility (as defined below), the 2010 A/R Facility was terminated and the outstanding facility amount was paid in full. As a result of this termination, the Company recognized a $0.6 million non-cash loss on extinguishment of debt in the year ended December 31, 2024, comprised entirely of the write-off of unamortized deferred financing costs.

On July 18, 2024, Trinseo Ireland Global IHB Limited, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, as investment manager, and Styron Receivables Funding Designated Activity Company, a special purpose finance entity, as borrower, among others, entered into a revolving credit facility secured by certain accounts receivable (the “2024 A/R Facility”), which has a borrowing limit of $150.0 million and matures in January 2028 with an optional one year extension. Borrowings under the 2024 A/R Facility incur interest at a rate per annum equal to Adjusted Term SOFR or

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EURIBOR (each as defined in the 2024 A/R Facility credit agreement, subject to a 1.00% floor), depending on the borrowing currency, plus a margin of 4.75% and the Company incurs interest on a minimum of $75.0 million of advances, irrespective of actual amounts outstanding. The 2024 A/R Facility contains standard representations, warranties and covenants, as well as standard events of default, including the occurrence of an event of default under the Company’s other material indebtedness. As of December 31, 2024, $75.0 million of borrowings were outstanding under the 2024 A/R Facility.

On December 9, 2024, the Company executed a Transaction Support Agreement (the “TSA”) with certain supporting creditors, including, without limitation, holders of the Company’s 2025 Notes and Existing 2029 Notes (each as defined below), 2028 Refinance Credit Agreement (as defined below) lenders, lenders under the 2026 Revolving Facility (as defined below) and certain term lenders under the Credit Agreement (as defined below) (together, the “Supporting Creditors”). Pursuant to the TSA, the Supporting Creditors agreed to support a series of transactions to refinance near-term maturities, provide additional operating liquidity, extend the Company’s nearest debt maturity to 2028, and capture discount from an exchange of its 2029 Senior Notes.

On January 17, 2025, the Company completed a series of transactions contemplated by the TSA, including an offer to exchange any outstanding 5.125% senior notes due 2029 (the “Existing 2029 Notes”) in exchange for new 7.625% Second Lien Senior Secured Notes due 2029 (the “New 2L Notes”). New 2L Notes in an aggregate principal amount of approximately $379.5 million were issued in exchange for a total of approximately $446.5 million aggregate principal amount of the Existing 2029 Notes, or 99.88% of the aggregate principal amount thereof outstanding. The New 2L Notes will bear interest at a rate of 7.625% per annum, of which: (i) from the Settlement Date until and including the date that is the sixth semiannual interest payment date following the Settlement Date, 5.125% per annum will be payable in cash and 2.50% per annum will be payable in-kind either by increasing the principal amount of the outstanding New 2L Notes or by issuing New 2L Notes, or, at the New Issuers’ option, in cash; and (ii) thereafter until maturity, the entire 7.625% per annum will be payable in cash. Interest on the New 2L Notes will be paid semiannually on February 15 and August 15 of each year, commencing on August 15, 2025. The New 2L Notes will mature on May 3, 2029.

Additionally, the Company issued a $115.0 million new tranche of loans under the certain credit agreement dated September 8, 2023 (as amended, the “2028 Refinance Credit Agreement”), on substantially similar terms to the existing term loans under the 2028 Refinance Credit Agreement. The proceeds of this tranche of loans were used to redeem all of the $115.0 million aggregate principal amount outstanding of the 5.375% senior notes due 2025 (the “2025 Notes”).

The Company executed a new credit agreement to provide a new super priority revolving credit facility (the “OpCo Super-Priority Revolver”) in an initial aggregate principal committed amount of $300.0 million. This OpCo Super-Priority Revolver has a revised springing covenant, a liquidity covenant, an anti-cash hoarding covenant, a maturity date of February 2028 and is available to be drawn upon immediately. The OpCo Super-Priority Revolver replaced the Company’s existing revolving credit facility due to mature in May 2026.

2024 Restructuring Plan

On September 26, 2024, the Board of Directors approved the 2024 Restructuring Plan (the “2024 Restructuring Plan”) which was designed to further reduce costs by streamlining commercial and operational activities and to improve profitability and better position the Company for longer term growth and cash flow generation. These actions consist of the following:

On November 13, 2024, the Company announced it entered into agreements to supply a polycarbonate technology license and proprietary polycarbonate production equipment in Stade, Germany to a wholly owned subsidiary of Deepak for use in India for a value of approximately $52.5 million. In connection with this sale of polycarbonate manufacturing assets, the Company committed to a plan to decommission the Stade, Germany polycarbonate plant and expects to incur certain restructuring and other charges.

In connection with the 2024 Restructuring Plan, during the year ended December 31, 2024, the Company recorded net pre-tax restructuring charges of $52.0 million, consisting of $24.6 million of severance and related benefit costs,

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$26.5 million of asset related charges, and $0.9 million of contract terminations. Asset-related charges include $19.9 million related to the accelerated depreciation for the asset retirement cost at Stade, Germany, $5.6 million in accelerated depreciation charges of plant, property and equipment associated with the exit of the Company’s Stade, Germany plant and other charges of $1.0 million. The Company expects to incur incremental contract terminations of $25.0 million to $28.0 million and asset related charges of $2.7 million within the Polymer Solutions segment. The majority of charges related to the 2024 Restructuring Plan and Stade Shutdown are expected to be paid by the end of 2027.

Exploration for Divestiture of Americas Styrenics

In March 2024, the Company announced it commenced a sale process for the Company’s interest in Americas Styrenics, via the initiation of an ownership exit provision in the joint venture agreement. Trinseo and Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP, co-owners of Americas Styrenics, have decided to pursue a joint sale process. We, along with our partner, remain committed to sell Americas Styrenics, with our focus being to maximize value and now expect a signing in late 2025.

Results of Operations

Results of Operations for the Years Ended December 31, 2024, 2023, and 2022

The table below sets forth our historical results of operations, and these results as a percentage of net sales for the periods indicated. Refer to the Company’s Form 10-K filed on February 23, 2024 for explanations of our results of operations for 2023 in comparison to 2022.

2024 vs. 2023

Net Sales

Net sales decreased 4% year-over-year, primarily driven by intentionally reducing volumes or exiting low-margin businesses, particularly in Polymer Solutions and Latex Binders, in order to optimize plant operations and sales mix.

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Cost of Sales

The 8% decrease in cost of sales was primarily attributable to a 4% decrease from lower utilities, and a 4% decrease due to lower sales volumes.

Gross Profit

The $123.3 million, or 87% increase in gross profit was primarily due to higher margins, principally reflecting the absence of unfavorable impacts from prior year natural gas hedge losses and higher plant utilization. See the segment discussion below for further information.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

The $16.7 million, or 5%, increase in SG&A was primarily due to increased restructuring costs of $13.2 million, partially offset by $9.5 million of lower costs for strategic initiatives, principally associated with the Company’s partially completed enterprise resource planning system upgrade during 2023.

Additionally, the increase in SG&A compared to the prior year was impacted by a $10.8 million reduction in net pre-tax gains on asset sales. In the prior year, the Company recognized a $14.4 million pre-tax gain from the sale of assets in Matamoros, Mexico. During the year ended December 31, 2024, the Company recorded $3.6 million in pre-tax gains from the sale of land, buildings, and equipment in Bronderslev, Denmark, and Belen, New Mexico.

Equity in Earnings of Unconsolidated Affiliates

The decrease in equity earnings of $46.7 million was due to a planned turnaround in the first quarter and an unplanned outage in the third quarter at its styrene production facility, along with lower styrene and polystyrene margins.

Impairment and other charges

During the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company recorded a non-cash goodwill impairment charge of $349.0 million related to the Engineered Materials reporting unit, as described within Note 14 in the consolidated financial statements. The Company also recorded impairment charges of $0.5 million related to the Boehlen styrene monomer assets during the years ended December 31, 2023, as described within Note 18 in the consolidated financial statements.

Interest Expense, Net

The increase in interest expense, net of $79.1 million, or 42%, was primarily attributable to the year-over-year increase in market interest rates on our variable rate debt, specifically related to the 2028 Refinance Loans compared to the 2024 Term Loan B and $8.0 million related to costs for the payment in kind election (“PIK Interest Election”). Refer to Note 16 in the condensed consolidated financial statements for further information.

(Gain) Loss on Extinguishment of Long-Term Debt

Loss on extinguishment of long-term debt was $0.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, this is comprised entirely of the write-off of unamortized deferred financing costs due to the Company terminating the 2010 A/R Facility in July 2024 and paying the outstanding amount in full.

Loss on extinguishment of long-term debt was $6.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, which related to the Company’s debt refinancing during the third quarter of 2023. This amount was primarily comprised of the write-off of unamortized deferred financing costs and unamortized original issue discount related to the 2024 Term Loan B as well as the write-off of unamortized deferred financing costs related to the 2025 Senior Notes.

Other Expense (Income), Net

Other expense, net for the year ended December 31, 2024 was $3.9 million. Other income, net was comprised of foreign exchange transaction losses of $1.7 million, which included $19.5 million of foreign exchange transaction losses primarily from the remeasurement of our euro denominated payables due to the relative changes in rates between the

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U.S. dollar and the euro during the period, partially offset by $17.8 million of gains from our foreign exchange forward contracts.

Other income, net for the year ended December 31, 2023 was $17.2 million. Other income, net was comprised of foreign exchange transaction gains of $9.1 million, which included $16.7 million of foreign exchange transaction gains primarily from the remeasurement of our euro denominated payables due to the relative changes in rates between the U.S. dollar and the euro during the period, partially offset by $7.6 million of losses from our foreign exchange forward contracts.

Provision for (Benefit from) Income Taxes

Provision for income taxes was $30.5 million and $68.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, which resulted in an effective tax rate of (10)% and (11)%, respectively. The decrease in provision for income taxes in 2024 was primarily driven by the decrease in valuation allowance in the United States, Switzerland and Luxembourg, as well as the geographical mix of earnings, partially offset by the increase in valuation allowance in China.

Selected Segment Information

Effective January 1, 2024, the Company ceased manufacturing of styrene and, effective October 1, 2024, combined the management of its Engineered Materials, Plastics Solutions and Polystyrene businesses. As of December 31, 2024, the Company operated under four reportable segments: Engineered Materials, Latex Binders, Polymer Solutions, and Americas Styrenics. In connection with the 2024 Restructuring Plan, on October 1, 2024, the company combined the management of its businesses to better reflect the Company’s strategic focus on providing solutions in areas such as sustainability and material substitution. The Compounding business within the Plastics Solutions segment was combined with the Engineered Materials segment, while the remaining Plastics Solutions businesses were combined with the Polystyrene segment and renamed Polymer Solutions. Refer to Item 1—Business for a description of our segments, including a detailed overview, products and end uses, and competition and customers.

The following sections present net sales, Adjusted EBITDA, and Adjusted EBITDA margin by segment for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023, and 2022. Inter-segment sales have been eliminated. Refer to Note 23 in the consolidated financial statements for a detailed definition of Adjusted EBITDA and a reconciliation of income from continuing operations before income taxes to segment Adjusted EBITDA. Prior period segment amounts herein have been recast in conjunction with the Company’s segment realignment that occurred during the first quarter of 2024, as described in Note 23 of the condensed consolidated financial statements.

Engineered Materials Segment

2024 vs. 2023

The 2% increase in net sales was primarily attributable to a 3% increase due to higher sales volumes from PMMA Resins, Rigid Compounds, and MMA. This was partially offset by a 2% decrease due to lower pricing from raw material pass-through.

Adjusted EBITDA increased $56.5 million, of which $34.5 million was due to higher margins resulting from lower natural gas hedge losses and more normalized MMA market dynamics, and $17.0 million was from higher sales volumes from PMMA Resins, Rigid Compounds, and MMA.

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2023 vs. 2022

The 19% decrease in net sales was primarily attributable to lower pricing, primarily from the pass through of lower raw materials and energy costs which contributed to a 12% decrease year-over-year. Additionally, lower sales volumes from weak underlying demand and continued customer destocking, primarily in building & construction, consumer electronics, and wellness applications contributed to an 7% decrease year-over-year.

Adjusted EBITDA decreased $45.0 million, or 49%, year-over-year primarily due to lower margins which decreased by $48.1 million or 53% year-over-year, as well as a decrease of $9.5 million, or 10%, due to lower sales volume as described above. These were partially offset by lower fixed costs of $11.1 million, or 12%, primarily as the result of savings realized from restructuring activities undertaken in late 2022 and 2023.

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Latex Binders Segment

2024 vs. 2023

The 1% increase in net sales was primarily due to a 4% increase from higher price from the pass-through of higher raw material costs, offset by a 3% impact from lower sales volumes in carpet applications.

The $11.9 million, or 14%, increase in Adjusted EBITDA was primarily due to $16.6 million, or 20%, higher margins from the exit of styrene production in Terneuzen as well as pricing actions in Europe and North America.

2023 vs. 2022

The 26% decrease in net sales was primarily due to a 15% decrease due to lower sales volumes across most applications from customer destocking and impacts from geopolitical uncertainty and a 12% decrease in pricing from the pass through of lower raw material costs.

The $9.9 million, or 11%, decrease in Adjusted EBITDA was primarily due to a decrease of $29.7 million, or 32%, from lower sales volume. These decreases were partially offset by a $20.1 million, or 22%, increase attributable to higher margins primarily due to pricing initiatives.

Polymer Solutions Segment

2024 vs. 2023

Of the 12% decrease in net sales, 14% was due to lower sales volumes in polycarbonate and weaker market conditions. Offsetting this was a 2% increase from higher pricing due to the pass-through of higher styrene costs.

The $35.3 million, or 70%, increase in Adjusted EBITDA was primarily due to a $38.9 million, or 78%, increase due to improved product mix from shedding sales of lower margin products and an increase of $18.4 million, or 37%, from lower fixed costs from the exit of styrene production. This was offset by a $21.1 million, or 42% decrease caused by lower sales volume.

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2023 vs. 2022

Of the 31% decrease in net sales, 15% was due to lower sales volumes primarily impacted by a decrease in polycarbonate sales from the announced shutdown of one production line, lower sales of copolymers for building & construction, industrial, and consumer durables applications related to customer destocking and a weaker macroeconomic environment. The volume decrease was partially offset by higher volumes for automotive applications. Also contributing to the overall decrease was a 16% decrease from lower pricing due to the pass through of lower raw material costs.

The $62.6 million, or 55%, decrease in Adjusted EBITDA was primarily due to lower sales volume of $42.4 million, or 37%. Also contributing to the overall decrease was a decrease of $29.7 million, or 26%, due to lower margins. Weaker demand, including in building & construction and appliance applications, contracted margins and led to lower volumes.

Americas Styrenics Segment

*The results of this segment are comprised entirely of earnings from Americas Styrenics, our equity method investment. As such, Adjusted EBITDA related to this segment is included within “Equity in earnings of unconsolidated affiliates” in the consolidated statements of operations.

2024 vs. 2023

The decrease in Adjusted EBITDA was mainly due to a planned turnaround in the first quarter, an unplanned outage in the third quarter at its styrene production facility, as well as lower margins from higher raw material input costs.

2023 vs. 2022

The decrease in Adjusted EBITDA was mainly due to lower styrene margins compared to the high levels in the prior year.

Outlook

We expect a constrained demand environment in 2025 similar to 2024, however. However, we anticipate significantly better operational performance due to restructuring and commercial initiatives as well as modest market growth.

Despite the economic environment, the Company maintains access to capital resources through continued focus on liquidity improvement actions. Also, we expect to realize the benefit of our previously announced restructuring initiatives and anticipate these actions will result in meaningful cost savings in 2025. We believe these actions will better position us to achieve higher growth, higher margin, and lower volatility as demand normalizes.

Non-GAAP Performance Measures

We present Adjusted EBITDA as a non-GAAP financial performance measure, which we define as income from continuing operations before interest expense, net; provision for income taxes; depreciation and amortization expense; loss on extinguishment of long-term debt; asset impairment charges; gains or losses on the dispositions of businesses and assets; restructuring charges; acquisition related costs and other items. In doing so, we are providing management, investors, and credit rating agencies with an indicator of our ongoing performance and business trends, removing the impact of transactions and events that we would not consider a part of our core operations.

There are limitations to using the financial performance measures such as Adjusted EBITDA. This performance measure is not intended to represent net income or other measures of financial performance. As such, it should not be

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used as an alternative to net income as an indicator of operating performance. Other companies in our industry may define Adjusted EBITDA differently than we do. As a result, it may be difficult to use this or similarly-named financial measures that other companies may use, to compare the performance of those companies to our performance. We compensate for these limitations by providing a reconciliation of this performance measure to our net income, which is determined in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”).

Adjusted EBITDA is calculated as follows for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023, and 2022. For discussion related to 2022 activity, refer to the Company’s Form 10-K filed on February 23, 2024.

Note that the accelerated depreciation charges incurred as part of both the Company’s asset restructuring plan and corporate restructuring program are included within the “Depreciation and amortization” caption above, and therefore are not included as a separate adjustment within this caption.

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Liquidity and Capital Resources

Capital Resources, Indebtedness and Liquidity

We require cash principally for day-to-day operations, to finance capital investments and other initiatives, to purchase materials, to service our outstanding indebtedness, and to fund the return of capital to shareholders via dividend payments and ordinary share repurchases, when deemed appropriate. Our sources of liquidity include cash on hand, cash flow from continuing operations, and amounts available under the Senior Credit Facility and the 2024 A/R Facility (discussed further below).

The 2028 Refinance Credit Agreement requires the Company to comply with customary affirmative, negative and financial covenants, and contains events of default including (i) relating to a change of control or (ii) failure to maintain at least $100.0 million of Liquidity at the end of any calendar month, and (iii) a cross default to the Credit Agreement. If an event of default occurs, the Term Lenders will be entitled to take various actions, including the acceleration of amounts due under the 2028 Refinance Term Loans (as defined below). Liquidity is defined under the 2028 Refinance Credit Agreement as a combination of cash and cash equivalents held at certain of the Company’s restricted subsidiaries as well as the funds available for borrowing under both the 2026 Revolving Facility (as defined below) and the 2024 A/R Facility, subject to certain restrictions outlined in the 2028 Refinance Credit Agreement. As of December 31, 2024, the Company was in compliance with all debt covenant requirements under the 2028 Refinance Credit Agreement and the Credit Agreement.

As of December 31, 2024, the Company had Liquidity of $348.6 million, comprised of $206.9 million of cash and cash equivalents and approximately $141.7 million of funds available for borrowing under both the 2026 Revolving Facility and the 2024 A/R Facility, $91.7 million and $50.0 million respectively. As of December 31, 2024 and 2023, we had $2,448.4 million and $2,344.6 million, respectively, in outstanding indebtedness and $267.3 million and $521.5 million, respectively, in working capital (calculated as current assets from continuing operations less current liabilities from continuing operations). In addition, as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, we had $107.7 million and $161.4 million, respectively, of foreign cash and cash equivalents on our consolidated balance sheets, outside of our country of domicile, which was Ireland as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, all of which is readily convertible into other foreign currencies, including the U.S. dollar. Our intention is not to permanently reinvest our foreign cash and cash equivalents. Accordingly, we record deferred income tax liabilities related to the unremitted earnings of our subsidiaries. For a detailed description of the Company’s debt structure, borrowing rates, and expected future payment obligations, refer to Note 16 in the consolidated financial statements.

The following table outlines our outstanding indebtedness as of December 31, 2024 and 2023 and the associated interest expense, including amortization of deferred financing fees and issuance discounts, prior to the refinancing transactions that closed in January 2025. Effective interest rates for the borrowings included in the table below exclude the impact of deferred financing fee amortization, certain other fees charged to interest expense (such as fees for unused commitment fees during the period), and the impacts of derivatives designated as hedging instruments.

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As of December 31, 2024, our Senior Credit Facility included the 2026 Revolving Facility and had a borrowing capacity of $375.0 million. Under the related covenants, at December 31, 2024, our borrowing capacity was limited to $91.7 million of funds available for borrowing (net of $20.8 million outstanding letters of credit). Additionally, the Company was required to pay a quarterly commitment fee for any unused commitments equal to 0.375% per annum.

The Senior Credit Facility also includes our 2028 Term Loan B (with original principal of $750.0 million, maturing in May 2028), which requires scheduled quarterly payments in amounts equal to 0.25% of the original principal. The stated interest rate on our 2028 Term Loan B is SOFR plus 2.50% (subject to a 0.00% SOFR floor). During the year ended December 31, 2024, the Company made $7.5 million and $10.8 million of net principal payments on the 2028 Term Loan B and the 2028 Refinance Term Loans, respectively, with an additional $18.3 million of scheduled future payments classified within current debt on the Company’s consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2024 related to both the 2028 Refinance Term Loans and the 2028 Term Loan B.

The 2028 Refinance Term Loans bear interest at a rate per annum equal to Term SOFR (as defined in the 2028 Refinance Credit Agreement) plus 8.50%, subject to a 3.00% SOFR floor, and were issued at a 3.0% original issue discount. Under the terms of the 2028 Refinance Credit Agreement, through September 8, 2025, the Company may execute quarterly, at its discretion, the payment in kind election (“PIK Interest Election”) to defer a portion of interest margin payable and the converted principal is subject to an additional 1.00% margin. During the year ended December 31, 2024, the Company executed the PIK Election and deferred payment of a portion of the quarterly interest margin payables in the amount of $33.9 million, thereby capitalizing $41.8 million to principal payments due at maturity.

Our 2025 Senior Notes (with original principal of $500.0 million) were issued under an indenture executed in 2017 (the “2025 Notes Indenture”), included $115.0 million aggregate principal amount of 5.375% senior notes that mature on September 1, 2025. Interest on the 2025 Senior Notes was payable semi-annually on May 3 and November 3 of each year. These Notes were redeemable prior to their maturity at the option of the Company under certain circumstances at specific redemption prices.

Our 2029 Senior Notes (with original principal of $450.0 million), as issued under the indenture executed in 2021 (the “2029 Notes Indenture”), include $447.0 million aggregate principal amount of 5.125% senior notes that mature on April 1, 2029. Interest on the 2029 Senior Notes is payable semi-annually on February 15 and August 15 of each year, which commenced on August 15, 2021. These Notes may be redeemed prior to their maturity at the option of the Company under certain circumstances at specific redemption prices.

In December 2024, the Company signed a Transactions Support Agreement (the TSA) with the Supporting Creditors of the Company’s outstanding senior notes, refinance credit agreement lenders, and revolving credit facility lenders. Pursuant to the TSA, the Supporting Creditors agreed to support a series of transactions to refinance near-term maturities, provide additional operating liquidity, extend the Company’s nearest debt maturity to 2028, and capture discount from an exchange of its 2029 Senior Notes. On January 17, 2025, the Company completed a series of transactions contemplated by the TSA.

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The transactions included redeeming and refinancing the remaining $115.0 million of the 2025 Senior Notes through the issuance of an additional $115.0 million of 2028 Refinance Term Loans, entering into a new $300.0 million revolving credit facility with a reset covenant and a maturity date of February 2028 that replaced the 2026 Revolving Facility, and exchanging $446.5 million of 2029 Senior Notes for $379.5 million of new 2029 Second Lien Senior Secured Notes. Refer to Note 16 in the consolidated financial statements for further information.

We also continue to maintain an accounts receivable securitization facility that matures in January 2028, with an optional one-year extension (the “2024 A/R Facility”). The facility has a borrowing limit of $150.0 million and bears interest at a rate per annum equal to Adjusted Term SOFR or EURIBOR (each as defined in the 2024 A/R Facility credit agreement, subject to a 1.00% floor), depending on the borrowing currency, plus a margin of 4.75%, and the Company incurs interest on a minimum of $75.0 million of advances, irrespective of actual amounts outstanding. It contains standard representations, warranties and covenants, as well as standard events of default, including those relating to cross-default to the Company’s other material indebtedness and may be terminated at any time, subject to a 1.00% call premium prior to January 2027.

As of December 31, 2024, there was $75.0 million outstanding under the facility and the Company had $125.0 million of accounts receivable available to support this facility, based on the pool of eligible accounts receivable, and had $50.0 million of additional funds available for borrowing. During the year ended December 31, 2024, the Company drew $513.2 million and repaid $438.2 million from both facilities.

Our ability to raise additional financing and our borrowing costs may be impacted by short- and long-term debt ratings assigned by independent rating agencies, which are based, in significant part, on our performance as measured by certain credit metrics such as interest coverage and leverage ratios.

We and our subsidiaries, affiliates, or significant shareholders may from time to time seek to retire or purchase our outstanding debt through cash purchases in the open market, privately negotiated transactions, exchange transactions or otherwise. Such repurchases or exchanges, if any, will depend on prevailing market conditions, our liquidity requirements, contractual restrictions and other factors. The amounts involved may be material.

Trinseo Holding S.á r.l. (formerly Trinseo Materials Operating S.C.A.) and Trinseo Materials Finance, Inc. (the “Issuers” of our 2029 Senior Notes and 2025 Senior Notes and “Borrowers” under our Senior Credit Facility) are dependent upon the cash generation and receipt of distributions and dividends or other payments from our subsidiaries and joint venture in order to satisfy their debt obligations. There are no known significant restrictions by third parties on the ability of subsidiaries of the Company to disburse or dividend funds to the Issuers and the Borrowers in order to satisfy these obligations. However, as the Company’s subsidiaries are located in a variety of jurisdictions, the Company can give no assurances that our subsidiaries will not face transfer restrictions in the future due to regulatory or other reasons beyond our control.

The Senior Credit Facility and Indentures also limit the ability of the Borrowers and Issuers, respectively, to pay dividends or make other distributions to Trinseo PLC, which could then be used to make distributions to shareholders. During the year ended December 31, 2024, the Company declared total dividends of $0.04 per ordinary share, or $1.3 million, of which $0.6 million, inclusive of dividend equivalents, remains accrued as of December 31, 2024 and the majority of which was paid in January 2025. These dividends are within the available capacity under the terms of the restrictive covenants contained in the Senior Credit Facility and Indentures. Further, additional capacity continues to be available under the terms of these covenants to support expected future dividends to shareholders, should the Company continue to declare them.

Despite the economic environment, the Company maintains access to capital resources through continued focus on liquidity improvement actions. The cash flows used by operating activities was $14.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2024. The Company expects that operating conditions in the beginning of 2025 will be largely similar to 2024, however the new 2028 Revolving Facility will increase liquidity. We believe funds provided by operations, our existing cash and cash equivalent balances of $206.9 million, coupled with borrowings available under our 2026 Revolving Facility and our Accounts Receivable Securitization Facility totaling a minimum of $141.7 million, including the existing borrowing limit imposed by the springing covenant, and the new 2028 Revolving Facility will be adequate to meet all necessary operating and capital expenditures for at least the next twelve months under current operating conditions.

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Further, we also believe that our financial resources will allow us to manage the anticipated impact of this challenging macroeconomic environment on our business operations for the foreseeable future, which could include lower demand, reductions in revenue or delays in payments from customers and other third parties. However, in the event the Company is unable to achieve its forecasts or maintain minimum liquidity covenants, it could have a material adverse impact on our access to liquidity, results of operation and financial condition. Our ability to generate cash from operations to service our indebtedness and meet other liquidity needs is subject to certain risks described herein and under Item 1A – Risk Factors.

As of December 31, 2024, we were in compliance with all the covenants and default provisions under our debt agreements. On January 17, 2025, the Company also entered into amendment to the existing Credit Agreement, pursuant to which the 2026 Revolving Credit Facility was replaced with a new super-priority revolving credit facility maturing in February 2028 (the “OpCo Super-Priority Revolver”). The terms under the OpCo Super-Priority Revolver are substantially similar to the 2026 Revolving Facility, except for an update to the financial covenant that requires compliance with a springing super-priority lien net leverage ratio test, a liquidity covenant and an anti-cash hoarding covenant.

The 2028 Refinance Credit Agreement requires, as stated above, Liquidity to be maintained at least $100.0 million. The definition of Liquidity is substantially similar under both the OpCo Super-Priority Revolver and the 2028 Refinance Credit Agreement. The OpCo Super-Priority Revolver’s anti-cash hoarding covenant requires repayment of existing excess borrowings under the OpCo Super-Priority Revolver amount if the cash and cash equivalents held by loan parties is over $100.0 million or the cash and cash equivalents held by non-loan parties is over $50.0 million. Refer to Note 16 in the consolidated financial statements for further information on the details of the covenant requirements.

We do not have any off-balance sheet financing arrangements that we believe are reasonably likely to have a material current or future effect on our financial condition, revenues or expenses, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures or capital resources.

Cash Flows

The table below summarizes our primary sources and uses of cash for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023, and 2022. We have derived the summarized cash flow information from our audited financial statements. Refer to the Company’s Form 10-K filed on February 23, 2024 for discussion related to 2022.

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Operating Activities

Net cash used in operating activities during the year ended December 31, 2024 totaled $14.2 million, which included a $123.7 million decrease in working capital, principally related to continued inventory management actions and cash collections, $45.0 million of dividends received from Americas Styrenics and $33.9 million in deferred interest cash payments via the PIK Interest Election.

Net cash provided by operating activities from continuing operations during the year ended December 31, 2023 totaled $148.7 million, inclusive of dividends received from Americas Styrenics of $65.0 million. Although operating results continued to be challenged by customer destocking and macroeconomic conditions, which resulted in reduced

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customer demand and negative earnings, there was a significant increase in cash performance during the year primarily as a result of targeted inventory control actions and cash improvement initiatives. Further, there was an increase in interest payments driven by the 2029 Senior Notes and the 2028 Term Loan B, both of which were outstanding for the full year, as well as the impact of the rising interest rates on our variable rate debt. Tax payments also increased, driven by higher earnings before income taxes in the prior year. Net cash used in operating activities from discontinued operations during the year ended December 31, 2023 was not significant.

Investing Activities

Net cash used in investing activities during the year ended December 31, 2024 totaled $55.1 million, which was primarily attributable to capital expenditures of $63.3 million offset by proceeds from the sale of business and other assets of $8.2 million. During 2024, the Company continued to proactively reduce or defer capital expenditures during the year as part of our liquidity improvement actions.

Capital expenditures for 2025 are expected to be approximately $62.7 million, inclusive of spending for both compliance and maintenance costs, and growth initiatives, including material substitution applications as well as products containing recycled or bio-based materials.

Net cash used in investing activities from continuing operations during the year ended December 31, 2023 totaled $31.7 million, which was primarily attributable to capital expenditures of $69.7 million offset by proceeds from the sale of business and other assets of $38.0 million. Net cash used in investing activities from discontinued operations during the year ended December 31, 2023 was not significant.

Financing Activities

Net cash provided by financing activities during the year ended December 31, 2024 totaled $26.4 million. During the year the Company drew $513.2 million in proceeds from the A/R Facility, and repaid $438.2 million, principally related to funding working capital and other requirements. This activity was partially offset by $18.3 million in debt repayments, $1.7 million of dividends paid, and $19.3 million of net repayments of short-term borrowings.

Net cash used in financing activities during the year ended December 31, 2023 totaled $66.0 million. This activity was primarily due to $1,055.9 million in debt repayments, $23.4 million in deferred financing fees related to the issuance of the 2028 Refinance Term Loans, $17.9 million of dividends paid, and $10.5 million of net repayments of short-term borrowings. This activity was partially offset by $1,044.9 million in proceeds from the issuance of the 2028 Refinance Term Loans.

Free Cash Flow

We use Free Cash Flow as a non-GAAP measure to evaluate and discuss the Company’s liquidity position and results. Free Cash Flow is defined as cash from operating activities, less capital expenditures. We believe that Free Cash Flow provides an indicator of the Company’s ongoing ability to generate cash through core operations, as it excludes the cash impacts of various financing transactions as well as cash flows from business combinations that are not considered organic in nature. We also believe that Free Cash Flow provides management and investors with useful analytical indicator of our ability to service our indebtedness, pay dividends (when declared), and meet our ongoing cash obligations.

Free Cash Flow is not intended to represent cash flows from operations as defined by GAAP, and therefore, should not be used as an alternative for that measure. Other companies in our industry may define Free Cash Flow differently than we do. As a result, it may be difficult to use this or similarly-named financial measures that other companies may use, to compare the liquidity and cash generation of those companies to our own. We compensate for these limitations by providing a reconciliation to cash provided by operating activities, which is determined in accordance with GAAP.

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Refer to the discussion above for significant impacts to cash provided by operating activities for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023. Refer to the Company’s Form 10-K filed on February 23, 2024 for discussion related to 2022.

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Contractual Obligations and Commercial Commitments

The Company’s primary contractual obligations and commercial commitments consist of the payments for principal and interest on our outstanding long-term debt, raw material purchases, funding requirements under our pension and other postretirement benefits, lease commitments, and obligations under our SAR SSAs.

The Company has both fixed and variable-rate long-term debt arrangements, which have varying principal and interest payment requirements over their contractual terms. Refer to the table and section above as well as to Note 16 in the consolidated financial statements for more information on our debt arrangements. Additionally, refer to Item 7A—Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk for discussion of our interest rate and foreign currency risks related to our debt and debt-related hedging arrangements.

The Company has certain raw material purchase contracts where we are required to purchase certain minimum volumes at the then prevailing market prices. As of December 31, 2024, the Company had $456.2 million of raw material purchase obligations, of which $155.3 million is due within the next twelve months. These commitments have remaining terms ranging from one to four years. Refer to Note 19 in the consolidated financial statements for more information on raw material purchase commitments. Additionally, refer to Item 1 – Business – Sources and Availability of Raw Materials for further description of the sources of our key raw materials.

The Company has various pension and other postretirement plans. The Company is required to make minimum contributions to certain of our funded pension plans and is also obligated to make benefit payments to employees for the unfunded pension plans and other postretirement plans. As of December 31, 2024, the Company’s estimated future benefit payments through 2034, reflecting expected future service, as appropriate, was $134.3 million, of which $11.2 million is due within the next twelve months. Refer to the section of our Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates entitled “Pension Plans and Postretirement Benefits” for more information on the factors impacting our pension and postretirement costs. Additionally, refer to Note 21 in the consolidated financial statements for more details on these employee benefit plans and the future payments expected to be made for them through 2034.

The Company has operating and finance leases for certain of its plant and warehouse sites, office spaces, rail cars, storage facilities, and equipment. The Company’s leases have remaining terms of one month through twelve years. As of December 31, 2024, the Company’s estimated minimum commitments related to our finance and operating lease obligations was $93.4 million, of which $18.1 million is due within the next twelve months. Refer to Note 20 in the consolidated financial statements for further information on our lease portfolio and future lease obligations.

As described in Item 1— Business— Our Relationship with Dow, the Company is party to SAR SSAs with Dow, which are agreements under which Dow provides certain site services to the Company at Dow-owned locations. Based on our current year known costs and assuming that we continue with the SAR SSAs with similar annualized costs going forward, we estimate our contractual obligations under these agreements to be approximately $24.1 million annually for 2025 through 2029, and a total of $160.4 million thereafter through June 2041. Refer to the aforementioned section of

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Item 1 for more information regarding these agreements, including details regarding the rights of the Company and Dow to terminate said agreements.

Derivative Instruments

The Company’s ongoing business operations expose it to various risks, including fluctuating foreign exchange rates, interest rate risk, and commodity price risk. To manage this risk, the Company periodically enters into derivative financial instruments, such as foreign exchange forward contracts, interest rate swap agreements, and commodity swap agreements. A summary of these derivative financial instrument programs is described below; however, refer to Note 17 of the consolidated financial statements for further information. The Company does not hold or enter into financial instruments for trading or speculative purposes.

Foreign Exchange Forward Contracts

Certain subsidiaries have assets and liabilities denominated in currencies other than their respective functional currencies, which creates foreign exchange risk. Our principal strategy in managing exposure to changes in foreign currency exchange rates is to naturally hedge the foreign currency-denominated liabilities on our consolidated balance sheets against corresponding assets of the same currency such that any changes in liabilities due to fluctuations in exchange rates are offset by changes in their corresponding foreign currency assets. In order to further reduce our exposure, the Company uses foreign exchange forward contracts to economically hedge the impact of the variability in exchange rates on our assets and liabilities denominated in certain foreign currencies. These derivative contracts are not designated for hedge accounting treatment.

Foreign Exchange Cash Flow Hedges

The Company also enters into forward contracts with the objective of managing the currency risk associated with forecasted U.S. dollar-denominated raw materials purchases by one of our subsidiaries whose functional currency is the euro. By entering into these forward contracts, which are designated as cash flow hedges, the Company buys a designated amount of U.S. dollars and sells euros at the prevailing market rate to mitigate the risk associated with the fluctuations in the euro-to-U.S. dollar foreign currency exchange rate.

Commodity Cash Flow Hedges & Commodity Economic Hedges

The Company purchases certain commodities, primarily natural gas, to operate facilities and generate heat and steam for various manufacturing processes, which are subject to price volatility. In order to manage the risk of price fluctuations associated with these commodity purchases, as deemed appropriate, the Company may enter into commodity swaps agreements or option contracts. Under these derivative contracts, the Company is effectively converting a portion of our natural gas costs into a fixed rate obligation to mitigate the risk of price fluctuations associated with the underlying commodity purchases. Certain of these commodity swaps are designated as cash flow hedges (“commodity cash flow hedges”), and the remaining commodity swaps are not designated for hedge accounting treatment (“commodity economic hedges”).

Interest Rate Swaps

The Company enters into interest rate swap agreements to manage our exposure to variability in interest payments associated with the Company’s variable rate debt. Under these interest rate swap agreements, which are designated as cash flow hedges, the Company is effectively converting a portion of our variable rate borrowings into a fixed rate obligation to mitigate the risk of variability in interest rates. The Company does not have any outstanding interest rate swap agreements as of December 31, 2024.

Net Investment Hedge

The Company had certain fixed-for-fixed cross currency swaps (“CCS”), swapping U.S. dollar principal and interest payments on our 2025 Senior Notes for euro-denominated payments, which were designated as a hedge of the Company’s net investment in certain European subsidiaries under the spot method through the original CCS agreement entered into on September 1, 2017 (“2017 CCS”). As such, changes in the fair value of the 2017 CCS that were included in the assessment of effectiveness (changes due to spot foreign exchange rates) were recorded as cumulative foreign

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currency translation within accumulated other comprehensive income or loss (“AOCI”), and will remain in AOCI until either the sale or substantially complete liquidation of the subsidiary. Additionally, the initial value of any component excluded from the assessment of effectiveness is recognized in income using a systematic and rational method over the life of the hedging instrument. Any difference between the change in the fair value of the excluded component and amounts recognized in income under that systematic and rational method is recognized in AOCI. The Company elected to amortize the initial excluded component value as a reduction of “Interest expense, net” in the consolidated statements of operations using the straight-line method over the remaining term of the 2017 CCS. Additionally, the Company recognizes the accrual of periodic USD and euro-denominated interest receipts and payments under the terms of CCS arrangements, including the 2017 CCS, within “Interest expense, net” in the consolidated statements of operations.

On February 26, 2020, the Company settled our 2017 CCS and replaced it with a new CCS arrangement (the “2020 CCS”) that carried substantially the same terms as the 2017 CCS and also is designated as a net investment hedge under the spot method. Upon settlement of the 2017 CCS, the Company realized net cash proceeds of $51.6 million. The remaining $13.8 million unamortized balance of the initial excluded component related to the 2017 CCS at the time of settlement is no longer being amortized following the settlement and will remain in AOCI until either the sale or substantially complete liquidation of the relevant subsidiaries. On April 7, 2022, the Company settled its existing 2020 CCS, which was set to mature in November 2022. Upon settlement of the 2020 CCS, the Company realized net cash proceeds of $1.9 million.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

Our discussion and analysis of results of operations and financial condition are based upon our financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with GAAP. The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the amounts reported. We base these estimates and judgments on historical experiences and assumptions believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results could vary from our estimates under different conditions. Our significant accounting policies, which may be affected by our estimates and assumptions, are more fully described in Note 2 in the consolidated financial statements. An accounting policy is deemed to be critical if it requires an accounting estimate to be made based on assumptions about matters that are highly uncertain at the time the estimate is made, and if different estimates that reasonably could have been used, or changes in the accounting estimates that are reasonably likely to occur periodically, could materially impact the financial statements. The following critical accounting policies reflect our most significant estimates and assumptions used in the preparation of the consolidated financial statements.

Valuation of Assets and Impairment Considerations

Valuation of Assets

Acquisitions that qualify as a business combination are accounted for using the purchase accounting method. Amounts paid for an acquisition are allocated to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed based on their fair value as of the date of acquisition. Goodwill is recorded as the difference between the fair value of the acquired assets and liabilities assumed (net assets acquired) and the purchase price. Goodwill is not amortized, but is reviewed for impairment annually as of October 1, or when events or changes in the business environment indicate that the carrying value of a reporting unit may exceed its fair value. Refer to the discussion below for further information on asset impairments.

Under the purchase accounting method, the Company completes valuation procedures for an acquisition, often with the assistance of third-party valuation specialists, to determine the fair value of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed. These valuation procedures require management to make assumptions and apply significant judgment to estimate the fair value of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed. If the estimates or assumptions used should significantly change, the resulting differences could materially affect the fair value of net assets.

Specifically, the calculation of the fair value of tangible assets, including property, plant and equipment, typically utilize the cost approach, which computes the cost to replace the asset, less accrued depreciation resulting from physical deterioration and functional and external obsolescence. The calculation of the fair value of identified intangible assets is determined using cash flow models following the income and cost approaches (or some combination thereof). Significant inputs include estimated future cash flows, discount rates, royalty rates, growth rates, sales projections, customer retention rates, and terminal values, all of which require significant management judgment. Definite-lived intangible assets, which are primarily comprised of customer relationships, developed technology, tradenames, and software, are

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amortized over their estimated useful lives using the straight-line method and are assessed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying value of the asset may not be recoverable. During the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company completed the Heathland Acquisition, which closed on January 3, 2022.

Impairment Considerations

As of December 31, 2024, net property, plant and equipment, net identifiable finite-lived intangible assets, and goodwill totaled $575.8 million, $598.8 million, and $59.9 million, respectively. Management makes estimates and assumptions in preparing the consolidated financial statements for which actual results will emerge over long periods of time. This includes the recoverability of long-lived assets employed in the business. These estimates and assumptions are closely monitored by management and periodically adjusted as circumstances warrant. For instance, expected asset lives may be shortened or impairment may be recorded based on a change in the expected use of the asset or performance of the related asset group.

We evaluate long-lived assets and identifiable finite-lived intangible assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset or asset grouping may not be recoverable. In the event the carrying value of the asset exceeds its undiscounted future cash flows and the carrying value is not considered recoverable, impairment may exist. An impairment loss, if any, is measured as the excess of the asset’s carrying value over its fair value, generally based on a discounted future cash flow method, independent appraisals, etc.

In connection with our strategy to focus efforts and increase investments in certain product offerings serving specific applications that are less cyclical and offer significantly higher growth and margin potential, and other management considerations, in March of 2020, the Company initiated a consultation process with the Economic Council and Works Councils of Trinseo Deutschland regarding the disposition of our styrene monomer assets in Boehlen, Germany. The Company’s assessments of these long-lived asset groups for impairment indicated that the carrying values of the asset groups at each location were not recoverable when compared to the expected undiscounted future cash flows from the operation and potential disposition of these assets. The fair value of the depreciable assets at each location was determined through an analysis of the underlying fixed asset records in conjunction with the use of industry experience and available market data. Based on the Company’s assessments, for the year ended December 31, 2023, we recorded impairment charges on the Boehlen styrene monomer assets of $0.5 million, which include charges recorded subsequent to March 2020 related to capital expenditures at the facility that we determined to be impaired. The amounts are included within “Impairment and other charges” in the consolidated statements of operations. Refer to Note 18 for more information.

Through December 31, 2024, we have continued to assess the recoverability of certain assets, and concluded there are no additional significant events or circumstances identified by management that would indicate these assets are not recoverable. However, the current environment is subject to changing market conditions and requires significant management judgment to identify the potential impact to our assessment. If we are not able to achieve certain actions or our future operating results do not meet our expectations, it is possible that impairment charges may need to be recorded on one or more of our operating facilities.

Long-lived assets to be disposed of by sale are classified as held-for-sale and are reported at the lower of carrying amount or fair value less cost to sell, and depreciation is ceased. Long-lived assets to be disposed of in a manner other than by sale are classified as held-and-used until they are disposed. The Company had no material assets classified as held-for-sale as of December 31, 2024.

As noted above, our goodwill impairment testing is performed annually as of October 1 at a reporting unit level. We perform more frequent impairment tests when events or changes in circumstances indicate that the fair value of a reporting unit has more likely than not declined below the carrying value.

A goodwill impairment loss generally would be recognized when the carrying amount of the reporting unit’s net assets exceeds the estimated fair value of the reporting unit. When supportable, the Company employs the qualitative assessment of goodwill impairment prescribed by Accounting Standards Codification 350. Otherwise, the estimated fair value of a reporting unit is primarily determined using an income approach (under the discounted cash flow method). Key assumptions and estimates used in the goodwill impairment testing include projections of revenues and EBITDA, the estimated weighted average cost of capital (“WACC”), and a projected long-term growth rate, all of which are based on data available at the time of the testing. The WACC is calculated incorporating weighted average returns on debt and

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equity from similar market participants, and therefore, changes in the market, which are beyond the control of the Company, may have an impact on future calculations of estimated fair value.

As a result of the goodwill impairment testing performed in the fourth quarter of 2022, the PMMA business and Aristech Surfaces carrying value of their net assets exceeded fair value, resulting in an impairment. All other reporting units had fair values that exceeded the carrying value of their net assets, indicating that no impairment of goodwill is warranted. These reporting units, which are included in the Engineered Materials operating segment, were acquired in 2021. The impairment charges were attributed to the continuation of the challenging macroeconomic environment experienced in 2022, including significantly lower demand for building & construction and wellness applications, which led to lower operating results including slower growth projections, and a prolonged drop in market capitalization, as well as an increase in the WACC. The Company reduced the carrying value of the PMMA business and Aristech Surfaces reporting units through the recognition of a $226.6 million and $70.5 million non-cash goodwill impairment loss, respectively. These losses are recorded within “Impairment and other charges” on the consolidated statement of operations and are allocated to the Engineered Materials segment.

As of January 1, 2023, the Company realigned the Engineered Materials segment reporting structure. The PMMA business and Aristech Surfaces reporting units were combined with the Legacy Engineered Materials reporting unit to form the Engineered Materials reporting unit. Impairment assessments on each reporting unit were performed immediately before and after the change in organizational structure where it was concluded there was no goodwill impairment.

As of October 1, 2024, the Company combined the management of its Engineered Materials, Plastics Solutions and Polystyrene businesses. Certain components of the Plastics Solutions segment were combined with the Polystyrene segment and renamed Polymer Solutions to better reflect the Company’s strategic focus on providing solutions in areas such as sustainability and material substitution. Impairment assessments on each reporting unit were performed immediately before and after the change in organizational structure where it was concluded there was no goodwill impairment for the year ended December 31, 2024.

During the second quarter 2023, the Company determined that a triggering event had occurred for the Engineered Materials reporting unit indicating it was more likely than not that the fair value of this goodwill was less than the associated carrying value. This determination resulted from the persistence of the challenging operating conditions, customer destocking and underlying demand weakness that contributed to a revised outlook reflecting a further reduction in near-term forecasted operating results, growth projections, as well as an additional decrease in market capitalization. Therefore, the Company performed a goodwill impairment assessment as of June 1, 2023 and recorded a goodwill impairment charge of $349.0 million, reflected within “Impairment and other charges” on the consolidated statement of operations.

As of December 31, 2024, the remaining $59.9 million in total goodwill is allocated to the reportable segments as follows: $31.5 million to Polymer Solutions, $14.5 million to Latex Binders, and $13.9 million to Engineered Materials, with no amounts allocated to the Americas Styrenics segment.

Factors which could result in future impairment charges, among others, include changes in worldwide economic conditions, changes in technology, changes in competitive conditions and customer preferences, and fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. These factors are discussed in Item 7A—Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk and Item 1A— Risk Factors included in this Annual Report.

Income Taxes

We account for income taxes using the asset and liability method. Under this method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the future tax consequences of temporary differences between the carrying amounts and tax bases of assets and liabilities using enacted rates. The effect of a change in tax rates on deferred taxes is recognized in income in the period that includes the enactment date.

Deferred taxes are provided on the outside basis differences and unremitted earnings of subsidiaries outside of Ireland. All undistributed earnings of foreign subsidiaries and affiliates are expected to be repatriated as of December 31, 2024. Based on the evaluation of available evidence, both positive and negative, we recognize future tax benefits, such as net operating loss carryforwards and tax credit carryforwards, to the extent that realizing these benefits is considered to be more likely than not.

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As of December 31, 2024, we had net deferred tax liabilities of $0.5 million, after valuation allowances of $339.2 million. In evaluating the ability to realize the deferred tax assets, we rely on, in order of increasing subjectivity, taxable income in prior carryback years, the future reversals of existing taxable temporary differences, tax planning strategies and forecasted taxable income using historical and projected future operating results.

For the year ended December 31, 2024, management assessed whether there were any changes in facts and circumstances that would result in any changes to the valuation allowance conclusions reached in the prior years. During the year ended December 31, 2024, management believed there was enough negative evidence to determine that it was no longer more likely than not that the net deferred tax assets would be realized in the Company’s China subsidiary. Among this evidence was the cumulative loss, magnitude of business losses in 2023 and 2024, current adverse economic conditions, restructuring initiatives and higher financial costs. These negative factors combined with no other tax planning strategies identified that could allow the Company to utilize its deferred tax asset, resulted in management’s decision to establish a full valuation allowance against the net deferred tax asset position during the year ended December 31, 2024. The Company’s China subsidiary continues to maintain a full valuation allowance against the net deferred tax assets as of December 31, 2024.

As of December 31, 2024, we had deferred tax assets for tax loss carryforward of approximately $204.5 million, $10.7 million of which is subject to expiration in the years between 2025 and 2029. We continue to evaluate our historical and projected operating results for several legal entities for which we maintain valuation allowances on net deferred tax assets.

We are subject to income taxes in Ireland, Luxembourg, the United States and numerous foreign jurisdictions, and are subject to income tax audits within these jurisdictions. The tax provision includes amounts considered sufficient to pay assessments that may result from examinations of prior year tax returns; however, the amount ultimately paid upon resolution of issues raised may differ from the amounts accrued. Since significant judgment is required to assess the future tax consequences of events that have been recognized in our financial statements or tax returns, the ultimate resolution of these events could result in adjustments to our financial statements and such adjustments could be material. Therefore, we consider such estimates to be critical in preparation of our financial statements.

The financial statement effect of an uncertain income tax position is recognized when it is more likely than not, based on the technical merits, that the position will be sustained upon examination. Accruals are recorded for other tax contingencies when it is probable that a liability to a taxing authority has been incurred and the amount of the contingency can be reasonably estimated. Uncertain income tax positions have been recorded in “Other noncurrent obligations” in the consolidated balance sheets for the periods presented.

Management judgment is required in determining our provision for income taxes, our deferred tax assets and liabilities, and any valuation allowance recorded against our deferred tax assets. The valuation allowance is based on our estimates of future taxable income and the period over which we expect the deferred tax assets to be recovered. Our estimate of future taxable income is based on management’s judgment and assumptions about various factors including historical experience and results, cyclicality of the business, and future industry and macroeconomic conditions and trends. Changes in these assumptions in future periods may require we adjust our valuation allowance, which could materially impact our financial position and results of operations.

Pension Plans and Postretirement Benefits

We have various company-sponsored retirement plans covering substantially all employees. We also provide certain health care and life insurance benefits to retired employees in the United States (the “OPEB Plans”). The OPEB plans provide health care benefits, including hospital, physicians’ services, drug and major medical expense coverage, and life insurance benefits. We recognize the underfunded or overfunded status of a defined benefit pension or postretirement plan as an asset or liability in our consolidated balance sheets and recognize changes in the funded status in the year in which the changes occur through AOCI, which is a component of shareholders’ equity.

A settlement is a transaction that is an irrevocable action that relieves the employer (or the plan) of primary responsibility for a pension or postretirement benefit obligation, and that eliminates significant risks related to the obligation and the assets used to effect the settlement. The Company does not record settlement gains or losses during interim periods when the cost of all settlements in a year is less than or equal to the sum of the service cost and interest cost components of net periodic benefit cost for the plan in that year.

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Pension benefits associated with these plans are generally based on each participant’s years of service, compensation, and age at retirement or termination. The discount rate is an important element of expense and liability measurement. We evaluate our assumptions at least once each year, or as facts and circumstances dictate, and make changes as conditions warrant.

We determine the discount rate used to measure plan liabilities as of the December 31 measurement date for the pension and postretirement benefit plans. The discount rate reflects the current rate at which the associated liabilities could be effectively settled at the end of the year. We set our discount rates to reflect the yield of a portfolio of high quality, fixed-income debt instruments that would produce cash flows sufficient in timing and amount to settle projected future benefits.

We use a full yield curve approach in the estimation of the future service and interest cost components of net periodic benefit cost for our defined benefit pension and other postretirement benefit plans by applying the specific spot rates along the yield curve used in the determination of the benefit obligation to the relevant projected cash flows. Service cost related to our defined benefit pension plans and other postretirement plans is included within “Cost of sales” and “Selling, general and administrative expenses,” whereas all other components of net periodic benefit cost are included within “Other expense (income), net” in the consolidated statements of operations.

We determine the expected long-term rate of return on assets by performing an analysis of historical and expected returns based on the underlying assets, which generally are insurance contracts. We also consider our historical experience with the pension fund asset performance. The expected return of each asset class is derived from a forecasted future return confirmed by current and historical experience. Future actual net periodic benefit cost will depend on the performance of the underlying assets and changes in future discount rates, among other factors.

The weighted average assumptions used to determine pension plan obligations and net periodic benefit costs are provided below:

Holding all other factors constant, a 0.25% increase (decrease) in the discount rate used to determine net periodic benefit cost would decrease (increase) 2025 pension expense for our non-U.S. plans by approximately $1.0 million and $(0.9) million, respectively. Holding all other factors constant, a 0.25% increase (decrease) in the long-term rate of return on assets used to determine net periodic benefit cost for our non-U.S. plans would decrease (increase) 2025 pension expense by approximately $0.1 million and $(0.1) million, respectively. Holding all other factors constant, a 0.25% increase or decrease in the discount rate, or the long-term rate of return on assets, used to determine net periodic benefit cost for our U.S. plan would change our 2025 pension expense by less than $0.1 million.

Plan assets totaled $106.7 million and $106.5 million as of December 31, 2024 and 2023. As noted above, plan assets are invested primarily in insurance contracts that provide for guaranteed returns. Investments in the pension plan insurance contracts are valued utilizing unobservable inputs, which are contractually determined based on returns, fees, and the present value of the future cash flows, or cash surrender values, of the contracts, and are classified as Level 3 investments. The Company presents certain pension plan assets valued at net asset value per share as a practical expedient outside of the fair value hierarchy.

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Recent Accounting Pronouncements

We describe the impact of recent accounting pronouncements in Note 2 of the consolidated financial statements, included elsewhere within this Annual Report.