In the third quarter 2021, Brenntag generated sales of 3,738.2 million EUR. Operating gross profit rose by 23.7% to 862.3 million EUR compared to 695.2 million EUR in previous year’s quarter. Operating EBITDA reached 342.9 million EUR, a strong year-on-year increase of 29.7%. Earnings per share totaled 1.02 EUR compared to 0.76 EUR a year ago which is an increase of 34%.

 

Christian Kohlpaintner, Chief Executive Officer of Brenntag SE, said: “In the third quarter of 2021, Brenntag achieved outstanding results with both our two global divisions Brenntag Essentials and Brenntag Specialties contributing strongly to this performance. The unusual and challenging market conditions continued in Q3, and we expect to see them persisting well into 2022. To secure availability of products and keeping customers operating remain key priorities for Brenntag in this environment. We want to thank all our employees for their great performance and strong commitment in these special times.”

 

Georg Müller, Chief Financial Officer of Brenntag SE, said: “In the third quarter 2021, Brenntag continued on its successful path. While we achieved strong results in both of our global divisions, we are particularly delighted about the development of our Earnings per Share, which rose strongly by more than 34% to 1.02 EUR compared to 0.76 EUR in the third quarter 2020.”

 

The implementation of the comprehensive transformation program Project Brenntag is going according to plan and makes very good progress since the launch of the new operating model in January 2021. Since its inception, Project Brenntag already contributed around 70 million EUR of additional operating EBITDA which is expected to ramp up to 220 million EUR annually by 2023. Additionally, the optimization of Brenntag's global site network is ongoing. Of the around 100 planned site closures, 68 have been completed to date. Furthermore, since the initiation of the program, more than 740 jobs have structurally been reduced out of approximately 1,300 planned over two years in a socially responsible manner. Brenntag is in close dialogue with the works councils in the different countries.

 

Brenntag confirms its operating EBITDA guidance to be in the range of 1,260 million to 1,320 million EUR for the financial year 2021 (previously: 1,160 million to 1,260 million EUR). The guidance was raised twice this year, and takes into account organic growth, the expected efficiency gains from Project Brenntag, and the contribution to earnings from already closed acquisitions at the time of the guidance increase. It is based on the assumption that exchange rates will remain stable on the level at the time of the guidance upgrade. Brenntag expects the exceptional and challenging market conditions persisting well into 2022.