Polymer materials manufacturer Covestro AG's sales rose 18.8% in 2017 over 2016 as the company's polyurethanes and polycarbonates segments benefited from higher volumes and selling prices.

Net income attributable to stockholders was €2.01 billion, or €9.93 per share, for 2017, up from €795 million, or €3.93 per share, in 2016 and above S&P Capital IQ's consensus GAAP EPS estimate of €9.19.

Net sales rose 18.8% year over year to €14.14 billion from €11.90 billion, driven by a 29.2% rise in sales of the company's polyurethanes segment and a 13.3% increase in sales of the polycarbonates segment. The coatings, adhesives and specialties segment posted sales of €2.05 billion, slightly up from €2.04 billion in 2016, as volumes remained almost unchanged from the previous year.

The company's core volumes increased 3.4% in 2017, with the polycarbonates segment posting core volume growth of 5.0% and the polyurethanes segment reporting growth of 3.4%. Core volume growth was 7.5% in 2016.

For the fourth quarter of 2017, the company reported net income of €566 million, up from €124 million in the year-ago quarter.