Clariant AG (CLZNY.PK, CLZNF.PK), a Swiss speciality chemical company, on Tuesday reported a decline in EBITDA for the first quarter, due to CHF 38 million of restructuring charges. However, sales remained almost flat.
For the first quarter, the company reported EBITDA of CHF 152 million, lesser than CHF 173 million, recorded for the same period last year. Excluding items, EBITDA improved to CHF 190 million from CHF 184 million in the previous year. EBITDA margin was 15 percent, lower than 17.1 percent in 2024.
The Group recorded sales of CHF 1.013 billion, compared with last year's CHF 1.014 billion.
In addition, Clariant has announced that its Chief Financial Officer Bill Collins has decided to retire. As part of the planned succession, the Board has appointed Oliver Rittgen as CFO with effect from August 1.
Rittgen will join Clariant from Bayer AG, Germany, where he spent nearly 25 years in senior management roles. Most recently, he served as CFO of Bayer's Crop Science division.
Looking ahead, for the full year, the Group reaffirmed its guidance. Clariant continues to expect EBITDA margin to be in the range of 15 to 15.5 percent. Excluding items, EBITDA margin is still anticipated to be in the range of 17 to 18 percent. Among the other things, these exceptional items are expected to include restructuring charges of around CHF 75 million.
The Group continues to project local currency sales growth toward the bottom end of the 3 to 5 percent range for 2025.
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