Earnings and profits fall at Lenzing
Austrian fibre producer Lenzing has posted lower profits and earnings for the first half of the year.
Earnings fell to EUR 15.4 million compared with EUR 72.1 million during the six-month period, while profits totalled just EUR 5.9 million compared with EUR 46.8 million during the prior-year period. Sales fell 14.4% to EUR 589.9 million compared with EUR 689.5 million.
However, quarterly earnings significantly improved from minus EUR 1.9 million in the first quarter to plus EUR 17.3 million in the second.
Board chairman, Peter Untersperger, said: "We believe a floor is forming in the world fibre market after a strong decline at the turn of the year. Demand has improved a bit, but prices are still disappointingly low and far from where they were in the past few record years.”
He predicted "gradual stabilisation” during the second half of the year, citing an increase in profit from the first to the second quarter this year as a promising development.
