Brenntag has released its financial results for the third-quarter 2023 broadly in line with expectations. The business of Brenntag Specialties was again affected by negative volume developments and price pressure. Both divisions observed a sequential improvement in demand in the course of the third-quarter that is expected to continue in the fourth-quarter.

Christian Kohlpaintner, CEO of Brenntag SE, said “The macroeconomic environment continued to be challenging in the third-quarter with ongoing geopolitical uncertainties and inflationary trends that impacted our performance. We saw a mixed picture across divisions and regions but also observed market conditions continue to normalize with sequential volumes moderately increasing as it has been anticipated for the second half of 2023. This modest volume recovery and our overall solid third-quarter performance provides a rather stable basis for the remainder of the year despite slightly softening pricing levels. We expect our operating EBITA for the financial year 2023 to now be around the lower end of our guidance specified in August 2023. We thank our employees who made these results happen against numerous headwinds.”

In the third-quarter 2023, Brenntag generated sales of €4,088.3 million which is 15.4% below previous year quarter. Operating gross profit reached €1,000.6 million, 4.3% below the strong prior year quarter. Operating EBITA came in at €302.7 million, a decline of 15.3% compared to the very strong third-quarter 2022 performance. The free cash flow was again very strong and with €441.6 million exceeded the previous year’s figure (€347.6 million) significantly by 27.0% as Brenntag continued to show its resilience with very strong cash flow generation. Earnings per share stood at €1.18 (third-quarter 2022: €1.60).

Brenntag said market conditions remained challenging but continued to normalize with volumes increasing sequentially as it has been anticipated for the second half of the year. In this still challenging environment, the performance of Brenntag’s global divisions was broadly in line with its expectations. The business of Brenntag Specialties was again affected by negative volume developments year-over-year in combination with falling sales prices. The division reported an operating gross profit of €371.0 million (-5.5%). Operating EBITA reached €135.0 million, a decrease of 19.6% compared to third-quarter 2022. In the third-quarter 2023, a positive development in volumes was reported in the EMEA region, whereas in North America the volumes were again low.

The operating gross profit came in at €622.9 million, which is 3.5% below prior-year quarter. Operating EBITA reached €198.8 million, this is -13.4% compared to very good results of the previous year’s quarter. North America showed a robust performance, while price normalization compared to very high price levels last year affected the EMEA region. In APAC, an increase in volumes compared to last year was achieved both organically and including acquisitions.

For more information, visit: www.brenntag.com.