The Austrian fiber manufacturer Lenzing AG suffered significant losses in sales and earnings in the first quarter of the 2026 financial year. In view of the “continued high level of uncertainty as well as geopolitical and trade policy developments,” a reliable forecast for the full year is still “not possible,” the company said in a statement on Thursday.
In the period from January to March, group sales amounted to 615.7 million euros. This means that it fell by 10.8 percent compared to the same quarter of the previous year. The main reasons for the significant decline were “lower fiber sales volumes and prices as well as lower pulp prices,” according to a statement. According to the company, the lower fiber sales volumes “also reflected a conscious management of production volumes, including the temporary shutdown of less profitable production lines.”
The group is continuing its reform course
The result was also significantly below the corresponding previous year’s level. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) shrank by 25.5 percent to 116.3 million euros. According to its own information, the group recorded positive special effects totaling 25.7 million euros in the reporting period “from the sale of surplus EU emission certificates as well as from a one-off effect from the negative goodwill recorded in the course of the initial consolidation of the majority stake in TreeToTextile AB acquired in February 2026”.
Net profit was 24.0 million euros, which corresponded to a decrease of 24 percent compared to the same period last year. However, the company emphasized that the result after taxes was “positive again for the first time in 2025 after three negative quarters”.
Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Mathias Breuer underlined the recent progress in earnings and confirmed the continuation of the reform course. “In the first quarter of 2026, we further stabilized our operational development and, after economically difficult previous quarters, once again achieved a positive result after taxes. The significant improvement in free cash flow is particularly pleasing, which shows that our measures are having an effect,” he explained in a statement. “At the same time, the market environment remains very volatile. We are therefore continuing our transformation with great discipline in order to make Lenzing structurally more profitable and resilient.”