Clariant Q3 Adj. EBITDA, Sales Up; Backs Outlook - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Specialty chemicals company Clariant AG (CLZNY.PK, CRN.L, CLZNF.PK), which recently terminated its proposed merger of equals with Huntsman Corp. (HUN), reported Tuesday that its third-quarter EBITDA before exceptional items rose 13% from last year to 235 million Swiss francs, driven by the upswing in Catalysis, the increase in Care Chemicals and the contribution from Plastics & Coatings.

The EBITDA margin before exceptional items increased to 15% from 14.9% in the previous year.

In the third quarter, sales growth accelerated by 12% in local currency to 1.566 billion francs. Organic sales growth was 9% in local currency, driven by higher volumes.

From a regional perspective, sales in North America grew 22% in local currency mainly on acquisitions. Sales in Asia advanced 15%, in the Middle East & Africa by 25% and in Europe by 6% in local currency. Latin American sales increased 3% despite the continued challenging economic environment.

CEO Hariolf Kottmann said, "Clariant continues to consistently and successfully deliver on its strategy. With an excellent 10% growth in both sales and profitability in the first nine months of the year we are well on track to achieve our targets."

For 2017, the company said it is confident to achieve targets, i.e. growth in local currency, progression in operating cash flow, absolute EBITDA and EBITDA margin before exceptional items in spite of a temporarily weaker cash flow in the first half.

Further, Clariant confirmed its mid-term target of reaching a position in the top tier of the specialty chemicals industry. This corresponds to an EBITDA margin before exceptional items in the range of 16% to 19% and a return on invested capital above the peer group average.