Industrial Automation Magazine India

LANXESS confirms and narrows corridor for 2020 guidance

Published on : Thursday 12-11-2020

LANXESS will be paying a special bonus for the extraordinary commitment of its employees during the coronavirus pandemic.

India, November 10, 2020 – LANXESS remains on track despite the impact of the coronavirus crisis: Following the third quarter, the specialty chemicals company is confirming and narrowing the corridor for the guidance for 2020 and now expects EBITDA pre exceptionals for the full year to come in between EUR 820 million and EUR 880 million. Earnings were previously expected in the range of EUR 800 million to EUR 900 million.

“We are continuing on course in the troubled waters of the coronavirus crisis and have specified our 2020 guidance. We want to deliver what we announced in spring. Given these volatile times and the many uncertainties, this is a great achievement of the entire LANXESS team and I am very proud of this,” said Matthias Zachert, Chairman of the Board of Management at LANXESS AG.

LANXESS will be paying a special bonus for the extraordinary commitment of its employees during the coronavirus pandemic. “In particular, our colleagues at the plants played a crucial role in keeping our business running during the crisis,” said Zachert. “With this bonus, we would like to thank them and all the others who have made special contributions over the past months.” In total, LANXESS will distribute a high single-digit million euro amount. The amount of the payment varies from employee to employee. In Germany, the special bonus will be paid out in December. Different rules apply in the other countries.

The coronavirus crisis continued to affect business figures in the third quarter. At EUR 193 million, EBITDA pre exceptionals was 28.3 percent down on the prior year’s figure of EUR 269 million. The EBITDA margin pre exceptionals declined to 13.2 percent, against 15.8 percent in the prior quarter. In addition to the pandemic, a planned major maintenance shutdown in Belgium, effects from reduced selling prices and adverse exchange rate effects, particularly relating to the U.S. dollar, burdened the result. By contrast, business in the Consumer Protection segment continued to develop well. There were also positive signals from the markets compared with the previous quarter.

“In many businesses, we are seeing indications that things are taking a turn for the better. Demand in key customer industries, including the automotive sector, picked up again in comparison to the second quarter. China and the U.S., in particular, are providing positive stimuli,” said Zachert.

Group sales amounted to EUR 1.461 billion, down 14.3 percent on the previous year’s figure of EUR 1.704 billion. Net income from continuing operations fell by 68.4 percent from EUR 79 million to EUR 25 million.