ESSEN, Germany, March 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Brenntag (ISIN
DE000A1DAHH0), the global market leader in chemical and ingredients
distribution, generated sales of 12,821.8
million EUR in 2019 in a difficult macroeconomic
environment. Earnings were impacted by the difficult market
environment in Europe,
Middle East & Africa and North
America. Sales were therefore on a par with the prior-year
figure on a constant currency basis. Operating gross profit rose by
3.4% to just over 2,821.7 million
EUR. Operating EBITDA reached 1,001.5
million EUR, a year-on-year increase of 11.3%. The earnings
growth is the result of the initial application of IFRS 16, the new
financial reporting standard on leases. Excluding the effect of
116 million EUR attributable to this
IFRS, Group earnings were down slightly on the strong prior-year
figure.
At 837.3 million EUR, free cash
flow was well above the figure for the prior-year period
(525.2 million EUR). This is due
primarily to an improvement in working capital compared with the
previous year. Profit after tax was up slightly on the prior-year
figure of 462.3 million EUR to
469.2 million EUR in FY 2019.
Earnings per share stand at 3.02 EUR.
At the General Shareholders' Meeting on June
10, 2020, the Board of Management and the Supervisory Board
will propose a dividend of 1.25 EUR
per share (2018: 1.20 EUR).
Dr Christian Kohlpaintner, who
took office as Chief Executive Officer in January, said, "Brenntag
is a strong brand with a good reputation in its markets. Our
company offers great potential for organic profitable growth.
My Board of Management colleagues
and I will therefore make every effort to unlock more of this
potential. Going forward, we will not only maintain our highly
market-centric approach, but also focus to a greater extent on
optimizing our processes, procedures and structures, thereby
creating the conditions crucial to long-term organic growth." In a
holistic analysis, Brenntag is currently examining its internal
structures, processes and organizational forms along the value
chain.
The Brenntag Group currently expects a positive performance at
operating EBITDA level in 2020, assuming that exchange rates remain
stable. The company is operating in a macroeconomic environment of
considerable uncertainty. The outlook is based on the assumption
that the effects of the macroeconomic risks and, in particular, the
effects of the crisis regarding the new coronavirus remain very
limited.
Find all figures and details for FY 2019 on Brenntag's website:
https://www.brenntag.com
Contact:
Hubertus
Spethmann
Brenntag AG
Corporate Communications
Messeallee 11
45131 Essen
Germany
Telephone: +49 (201) 6496-1732
E-Mail: hubertus.spethmann@brenntag.de
https://www.brenntag.com