Lanxess passes rises on to customers in Q1

Cologne, Germany – Sales at Lanxess sales were EUR2.4bn in the first quarter of 2022, up 43.6% on the same period last year. EBITDA across the business rose by 32.2%, reaching EUR320m.

CEO Matthias Zachert said: ‘We have built up strong market positions in recent years, which are particularly paying off in the current situation. We can thus pass on higher raw material and energy costs via our selling prices. However, it is impossible to predict the impact of the war in Ukraine on future business performance.’

In the company's engineering materials business, where Lanxess reports its polyurethane systems, sales rose by 52.8% between the first quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022, to EUR576m. This compares with EUR377m in the 2021 quarter.

EBITDA in the division was up 13.6% to EUR67m in the first quarter of 2022. This compares with EUR59m in the equivalent period in 2021.   

Sales in the division increased as raw material and energy price rises were passed on to consumers. This also enabled the company to increase EBITDA, but lower volumes as the semiconductor shortage hit the key automotive market took some of the shine off this. 

Looking to the rest of the year, Lanxess said that the war in Ukraine and China’s zero-tolerance policy towards coronavirus were making the world an increasingly fragile economic space. The company may reduce or halt output from some gas-intensive plants if Germany’s embargo on Russian natural gas comes to fruition. This could take EUR80-12m from earnings, warned the company.