Cologne, Germany – Lanxess is increasing its EBITDA forecast for 2021 following a good first quarter of the year.
Sales and EBITDA before exceptional items are on a par on the first quarter of the company's 2020 financial year. This quarter was unaffected by lockdowns and the other coronavirus restrictions which hit the global economy.
Zachert: increasingly optimistic
The company said that there is growing demand from the automotive sector, which was helping business in its engineering materials division.
'Operationally, we have left coronavirus behind us and are now very confident about the rest of the year,' chairman Matthias Zachert said.
Sales in the engineering materials business rose by 8.6% between the first quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021, reaching EUR377m. This compares with EUR347m in the equivalent period in 2020.
EBITDA before exceptional items rose by 20.4% to EUR59m in the first quarter of 2021. This compares with EUR49m in the 2020 quarter.
