# To Our Shareholders

_Source: `DeepSeekOCR_Ardian_pruned_1k/basic-materials-specialty-chemicals/NYSE_NEU_2018/NYSE_NEU_2018.mmd` · pages 4-10_

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To Our Shareholders:

Once again, it is my pleasure to report to you that our company remains strong with a bright future. Our overall performance was solid in light of a challenging economic environment surrounding the specialty chemical sector in which we participate.

Petroleum Additives faced the headwinds of rising raw material costs throughout much of the year, continuing a trend that began in late 2016. We adapted throughout the year by working in the marketplace to recover margins and introduce new products, maintaining measured cost control, and making internal progress on "Cost To Serve" efficiencies across the enterprise. We finished the year with good momentum going into 2019.

During 2018, we completed some major investments that position us well to serve our customers worldwide and provide for long term shareholder return. We completed and opened Phase 2 of our new Singapore manufacturing facility and started commercial shipments, significantly expanding our capacity and taking a major step in our strategic plan to better serve the Asia Pacific region as part of our global expansion. We also fully integrated the 2017 acquisition of Aditivos Mexicanos, S.A., or AMSA – our largest acquisition in more than twenty years. The AMSA acquisition, combined with the fully operational Singapore plant, puts us in a more fully integrated position to serve our customers and provide increased shareholder return. These additions, along with disciplined focus on our "Actively Caring" safety efforts and investments in quality improvement, give me great confidence in our abilities to serve our customers well into the future.

Our company excels at producing products that make a positive contribution to society through reducing emissions, improving fuel economy, reducing the use of fossil fuels, and increasing the overall efficiency of modern day transportation and industry. We operate in an industry that demands increased investment in technology to continue to push transportation efficiency, and annually we invest over $140 million in research and development to continue to bring forward solutions. The Petroleum Additives industry continues to have sound fundamentals, and it is where we can generate the greatest return to our shareholders while providing our customers with products that make the world a better place.

We remain focused on using our cash flow to generate shareholder value. In 2018, we had another year of strong cash flow while maintaining a modest leverage profile consistent with our stated financial strategy. We returned over $312 million to our shareholders through dividends of $80 million and stock repurchases of $232 million, and we ended the year with a very healthy balance sheet.

I would like to thank our dedicated employees for their loyal support to the mission of our company. I also want to thank our shareholders who continue to invest in us for the long term.

I remain impressed by what our team can accomplish as we work together in unison to provide superior products and services to our valued customers, and I am excited about the year ahead.

Sincerely,

Thomas E. Gottwald

Chairman and CEO

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