LANXESS posts a good start to the new fiscal year

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LANXESS posts a good start to the new fiscal year

LANXESS posts a good start to the new fiscal year

Industry News
Mar 29,18

Specialty chemicals company LANXESS continues its profitable growth path. The company ended fiscal year 2017 with record earnings. LANXESS has also made a good start to the new year.

LANXESS posts a good start to the new fiscal year

Specialty chemicals company LANXESS continues its profitable growth path. The company ended fiscal year 2017 with record earnings. LANXESS has also made a good start to the new year.

EBITDA pre exceptionals rose by 29.6 percent in fiscal year 2017 to EUR 1.29 billion, the highest result in the company’s history. In the previous year, EBITDA pre exceptionals amounted to EUR 995 million. The operating result was therefore at the top end of the forecast range of EUR 1.25 billion to EUR 1.3 billion.

The main drivers of the strong rise in earnings were higher volumes in all segments as well as the strong contribution of the Chemtura businesses acquired in the previous year. The EBITDA margin pre exceptionals increased from 12.9 percent to 13.3 percent, moving another step closer to the mid-term margin target. From 2021, the average margin is expected to be between 14 percent and 18 percent. Group revenue also rose substantially by 25.5 percent to EUR 9.66 billion in the last fiscal year compared with EUR 7.7 billion the year before.

Net income totaled EUR 87 million, after EUR 192 million in the previous year. This decline was due to significant one-time exceptional expenses, particularly for the integration of the Chemtura businesses and consolidation of production networks and value chains as well as a one-time charge arising from the U.S. tax reform. Adjusted for these exceptional items as well as amortization of intangible assets, net income was up by 53.9 percent from EUR 246 million to EUR 379 million. The reported key financial ratios are in line with current market expectations.

“We achieved a lot strategically and operationally in the last fiscal year, laying firm foundations for the future,” said Matthias Zachert, Chairman of the LANXESS Board of Management. “With Chemtura, we successfully completed our biggest acquisition to date, and also significantly improved the quality of our portfolio even more. In this set-up, we achieved the best earnings in LANXESS’s history so far while further enhancing the Group’s profitability.”