Lanxess Expects Strong Q4 Results

By Ozan Ergenay

(Reuters) – German specialty chemicals maker Lanxess (ETR:LXSG) announced on Monday that it anticipates its fourth-quarter core profit to exceed market expectations by over 20%, primarily due to pre-buying by U.S. customers.

Based in Cologne, the company estimates its quarterly earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) before exceptions to be approximately 159 million euros ($164 million), surpassing market analysts’ forecast of 130 million, according to a Vara consensus.

The chemicals group also projects an EBITDA of about 614 million euros for 2024, roughly 20% higher than the previous year, and at the upper limit of its guidance range for 10-20% growth.

> “The fourth quarter was positively influenced by a stronger-than-expected December, particularly due to customers’ pre-buying,” the company stated, also noting that the broader macroeconomic environment has not seen improvements.

Sebastian Bray, an analyst from Berenberg, commented, “This is a good indicator that volumes at German chemicals producers may have held up surprisingly well in Q4.” He added that the market’s attention would shift towards whether this volume improvement would be sustainable in 2025, mentioning that Lanxess identified U.S. pre-buying as a potential driver for its specialty additive and consumer protection product segments.

Analysts from Jefferies noted, “We expect a positive share reaction.”

In afternoon trading, shares in Lanxess rose by 5.6%. The company is set to release its full-year 2024 results on March 20.

> ($1 = 0.9689 euros)