Brenntag saw its shares tumble nearly 9% in European trading Tuesday after the company said it expects its adjusted earnings this year to be at the lower end of its forecast range, after posting first-quarter results that missed market expectations.
The German chemicals distribution company said on Tuesday that it now anticipates operating earnings before interest, taxes, and amortization (EBITDA) to be at the lower end of its previously guided range of between EUR1.23 billion ($1.33 billion) and EUR1.43 billion ($1.54 billion).
The current company consensus of EUR1.27 million “is already slightly below the midpoint of the guidance, but we expect this to trim down further following today's print,” analysts at Morgan Stanley said in a post-earnings note.
Meanwhile, analysts at UBS believe investors were prepared for “a weak start to the year given peer results,” noting that consensus is already at the lower end of the guidance range. However, they “still expect some share price pressure given the results,” UBS wrote.
For Q1, Brenntag reported a net profit of EUR141.4 million, missing analysts' expectations of EUR156.8 million, according to a Vara Research consensus. Sales stood at EUR4 billion, also below the consensus estimate of EUR4.27 billion.