In recent years, the Austrian fiber producer Lenzing AG has increasingly focused on sustainable special fibers and has significantly expanded its production capacities. The company now wants to push this strategy further – and achieve ambitious growth targets: On Wednesday, Lenzing announced that earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) should be increased to over one billion euros by 2027. In the past financial year it was 363 million euros.
The Group wants its shareholders to participate in the expected successes with a new dividend strategy: “Lenzing is committed to an attractive dividend with a minimum amount of EUR 4.50 per share from the 2023 financial year,” the company said. However, this plan still has to be approved by the supervisory board and is “subject to specific dividend proposals from the management board and the supervisory board”. These could “deviate from the new dividend policy if this is appropriate in the prevailing situation,” the group explained.
The new earnings targets are based on “a comprehensive review of the corporate strategy” that management has carried out over the past few months in order to “optimalize growth opportunities and further expand the company’s leading position in the area of sustainability and the circular economy,” according to a statement. On this basis, Lenzing will “further sharpen the corporate focus, align corporate activities even more clearly than before with customer needs and prioritize those projects that make a positive contribution to society and the environment”.
Robert van de Kerkhof, Lenzing’s Chief Commercial Officer Fibers, explained the plans: “We will further expand our pioneering role by further strengthening the topic of recycling and thus accelerating the transformation of the textile business model from a linear to a circular model,” he explained in a message. “As advocates for sustainability, we know that the transition to a circular economy in the textile and nonwovens industry is crucial.”