Brenntag increases profit and intends to raise the dividend

Essen (ots) - Brenntag (ISIN DE000A1DAHH0), the global market leader in chemical
and ingredients distribution, generated sales of 12,821.8 million EUR in 2019 in
a difficult macroeconomic environment. Earnings were impacted by the difficult
market environment in Europe, Middle East & Africa and North America. Sales were
therefore on a par with the prior-year figure on a constant currency basis.
Operating gross profit rose by 3.4% to just over 2,821.7 million EUR. Operating
EBITDA reached 1,001.5 million EUR, a year-on-year increase of 11.3%. The
earnings growth is the result of the initial application of IFRS 16, the new
financial reporting standard on leases. Excluding the effect of 116 million EUR
attributable to this IFRS, Group earnings were down slightly on the strong
prior-year figure.

At 837.3 million EUR, free cash flow was well above the figure for the
prior-year period (525.2 million EUR). This is due primarily to an improvement
in working capital compared with the previous year. Profit after tax was up
slightly on the prior-year figure of 462.3 million EUR to 469.2 million EUR in
FY 2019. Earnings per share stand at 3.02 EUR. At the General Shareholders'
Meeting on June 10, 2020, the Board of Management and the Supervisory Board will
propose a dividend of 1.25 EUR per share (2018: 1.20 EUR).

Dr Christian Kohlpaintner, who took office as Chief Executive Officer in
January, said, "Brenntag is a strong brand with a good reputation in its
markets. Our company offers great potential for organic profitable growth. My
Board of Management colleagues and I will therefore make every effort to unlock
more of this potential. Going forward, we will not only maintain our highly
market-centric approach, but also focus to a greater extent on optimizing our
processes, procedures and structures, thereby creating the conditions crucial to
long-term organic growth." In a holistic analysis, Brenntag is currently
examining its internal structures, processes and organizational forms along the
value chain.

The Brenntag Group currently expects a positive performance at operating EBITDA
level in 2020, assuming that exchange rates remain stable. The company is
operating in a macroeconomic environment of considerable uncertainty. The
outlook is based on the assumption that the effects of the macroeconomic risks
and, in particular, the effects of the crisis regarding the new coronavirus
remain very limited.

Find all figures and details for FY 2019 on Brenntag's website:
https://www.brenntag.com

Contact:

Hubertus Spethmann
Brenntag AG
Corporate Communications
Messeallee 11
45131 Essen
Germany
Telephone: +49 (201) 6496-1732
E-Mail: hubertus.spethmann@brenntag.de
https://www.brenntag.com

Additional content: https://www.presseportal.de/pm/108645/4537077
OTS: Brenntag AG
ISIN: DE000A1DAHH0

Original-Content von: Brenntag AG, übermittelt durch news aktuell