Lanxess reports falling sales, increased earnings, with Urethane Systems divestment imminent

Cologne, Germany – Lanxess has reported sales of €6.37bn in 2024. This represents a 5.2% decline on the €6.71bn reported in 2023. The drop was largely the result of lower sales prices as reduced raw material and energy costs were passed on.

However, there was a sharp increase in earnings for the year, with EBITDA pre-exceptionals rising by 19.9%, from €512m in 2023 to €614m last year. The company said higher capacity utilisation and significantly lower costs as a result of its Forward! action plan contributed to the increase.

“We have defied the economic and geopolitical headwinds and significantly increased our earnings from our own resources,” said Matthias Zachert, chairman of the company’s board of management. “This shows that our structural measures are working. They will continue to pay off in the current year. We therefore remain confident of achieving further growth by 2025, even if a broad-based recovery in global demand is not in sight.”

The company anticipates that the economic and geopolitical environment will remain challenging in 2025. However, it said it expects a portfolio-adjusted increase in EBITDA pre-exceptionals of about 10% for the full year, thanks to the continued impact of the Forward! plan.

The portfolio adjustment reflects the imminent sale of its Urethane Systems business. The sale to Ube Corporation is expected to complete in April. In 2024, the business unit contributed about €50m to the total EBITDA pre-exceptionals figure.

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