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Brenntag profit misses estimates on oil slump and Venezuela

Bloomberg Published on Mon, May 09, 2016 / 2:33 PM GMT+8

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FRANKFURT (May 9): Brenntag AG, the world’s largest distributor of chemicals, reported first-quarter profit that missed analyst estimates as the slump in oil production hurt demand for additives used in drilling and refining.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization fell 1.5% to 192.1 million euros ($298.6 million), also weighed down by a currency devaluation in Venezuela, the Muelheim an der Ruhr-based company said in a statement Monday. Analysts had predicted 203.7 million euros in a Bloomberg survey.

Brenntag stuck to a full-year forecast for an increase in earnings in 2016 as Chief Executive Officer Steven Holland makes acquisitions to broaden the portfolio and add customers. Approaching his fifth anniversary at the helm, Holland is looking to get Brenntag into Germany’s benchmark DAX index, buying two companies in Germany and one in South Africa in the first quarter.