LENZING, Austria, November 6, 2019-

The Lenzing Group continued its solid business development in the third quarter of 2019 despite a significantly more challenging market environment. The consistent implementation of the sCore TEN strategy and the focus on specialty fibers again had a positive impact. As a result, the decline in revenue and earnings in the first three quarters of 2019 due to the historically low standard viscose prices was mitigated.

Revenue of the Lenzing Group developed at a similar level to the prior-year period and amounted to EUR 1.62 bn (minus 1.1 percent), despite the steep decline in prices for standard viscose. However, based on a further product mix optimization and higher prices for specialty fibers, the decrease in revenue was largely offset; the share of specialty fibers in revenue, at 49.8 percent, significantly exceeded the prior-year value of 44.1 percent. EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) dropped by 8.1 percent to EUR 266.9 mn, primarily due to the market environment for standard viscose, leading to a lower EBITDA margin of 16.5 percent compared with 17.8 percent in the first three quarters of the previous year. EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) fell by 19.3 percent to EUR 153.5 mn. The EBIT margin dropped to 9.5 percent (from 11.6 percent in the comparative period). Net profit decreased by 15.6 percent to EUR 112.9 mn. Earnings per share amounted to EUR 4.41 (01-09/2018: EUR 5.06).

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