The Austrian fiber producer Lenzing AG closed the first quarter of 2022 with a significant increase in sales. In its interim report published on Wednesday, the company emphasized that it was able to achieve the strong increase in an environment that was “characterized by the extreme developments on the global energy and commodity markets”.
In the months from January to March, Lenzing generated sales of EUR 615.0 million, which corresponds to growth of 25.7 percent compared to the same quarter of the previous year. “This increase is primarily due to continued high demand for wood-based, biodegradable specialty fibers and higher fiber prices,” the company explained. In addition, favorable currency effects contributed to the improvement in sales.
Due to “drastically” rising energy, raw material and logistics costs, the operating profit fell short of the previous year’s level: Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) were EUR 43.6 million and thus 21.3 percent below the level of the same period of the previous year. Thanks to lower tax burdens, net profit reached EUR 34.1 million, an increase of 14.3 percent compared to the first quarter of 2021.
“Thanks to considerable efforts in an environment of drastically rising costs, Lenzing got off to a solid start in the 2022 financial year,” said CEO Stephan Sielaff in a statement. “The demand for our wood-based, biodegradable specialty fibers also developed positively in the first quarter.” The CEO also referred to the recently completed growth projects: “Strategically, we remain on course with the opening of our lyocell plant in Thailand and the commissioning of the pulp plant in Brazil , and we are very proud of that,” stressed Sielaff.