Lanxess to cut 550 jobs after 2025 sales miss market view

By Ozan Ergenay

March 19 (Reuters) - Speciality chemicals maker Lanxess LXSG.DE on Thursday reported weaker-than-expected annual sales and said it did not expect business to improve before the second half of 2026.

Shares of the Cologne-based group, which also said it planned to cut hundreds of jobs to reduce costs, fell around 10% by midday local time.

Chemical companies have been hit the hardest by the escalating war in the Middle East, an essential region producing a lot of raw materials for the industry. The conflict has disrupted supply chains, pushed up energy prices and sparked fears of rising inflation and weakening consumer demand.

"We control the things we can control, that means continuing to cut costs, streamline processes and create new market opportunities," Lanxess CEO Matthias Zachert said in a statement.

Lanxess said in early March that the sale of its stake in plastics joint venture Envalior had been called off by the buyer, an investment vehicle backed by buyout group Advent. A person familiar with the matter said sector deterioration and markets souring in the wake of the Iran conflict were behind the decision.

The German chemical sector, the country's third-largest, has been struggling for years with subdued demand, high energy costs, supply chain issues and an economic slowdown.

On Thursday, Lanxess launched new cost-cutting measures for 2026, targeting permanent yearly savings of around 100 million euros by the end of 2028. That will include cutting 550 jobs, about two-thirds of which will be in Germany.

No further job cuts are planned for now, Zachert told a press conference.

For 2026, Lanxess forecast earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) pre-exceptionals of 450-550 million euros, compared with 510 million euros last year.

The company expects to see positive momentum in the second half at the earliest, for example through the German government's infrastructure stimulus programme.

Its 2025 revenue fell 10.9% to 5.67 billion euros, missing a company-provided analysts' consensus of 5.72 billion euros.

($1 = 0.8724 euros)