Specialty chemicals company LANXESS is on track despite the weaker economy and geopolitical uncertainties and can look back on a stable second quarter. EBITDA pre-exceptionals declined only slightly by 1.4 per cent to EUR 286 million, nearly reaching the figure of the strong prior-year quarter of EUR 290 million.

Due to the weak demand from the automotive industry in particular, sales volumes declined in the Engineering Materials and Specialty Additives segments. In addition, earnings were burdened by a weak chrome ore business. However, this development was nearly offset by the company?s stable portfolio and advantageous exchange-rate effects, especially from the strong US dollar. The EBITDA margin pre-exceptionals remained stable at 15.8 per cent after 15.9 per cent in the prior-year quarter.

?Our strategic transformation and more stable position are paying off, especially in these economically uncertain times. We delivered good results again in the second quarter and confirmed our guidance for the full year,? said Matthias Zachert, Chairman of the Board of Management of LANXESS AG.

The company expects EBITDA pre-exceptionals of EUR one billion to EUR 1.050 billion for the full year 2019. In the previous year, LANXESS generated earnings of EUR 1.016 billion. The company expects earnings to be slightly weaker in the third quarter and somewhat better in the fourth quarter than in the previous year.