Germany's Evonik profit beats as Iran conflict drives stockpiling among customers (updated)

Evonik Industries AG

08/05/2026 07:19

First-quarter core profit beats expectations

Group expects Q2 profit to rise 8%

Warns of weaker demand in H2

Shares rise 2.6%

Adds interim CFO quote and guidance beat details paragraph 4, company quote paragraph 8, details on supply chain impact in paragraph 7; Updates share move paragraph 6

By Dimitri  Rhodes

May 8 (Reuters) - German chemicals group Evonik EVKn.DE reported first-quarter core profit above market expectations on Friday, helped by short-term customer stockpiling as the conflict in the Middle East disrupted supply chains.

The Essen-based group said it had recorded a spike in sales since March due to supply-chain uncertainty linked to the Iran war, echoing first-quarter comments from Dutch peer dsm-firmenich DSFIR.AS.

"This is presumably not due to a real rise in demand but due to purchases of inventories as customers endeavour to protect themselves from supply chain disruption and rising prices," the company said in a statement.

Evonik's first quarter core profit surpassed its own guidance by 25 million euros ($29.41 million). Interim finance chief Claus Rettig said on an analyst call that the beat was "a mixture of pre-buying and market share gains, but the vast majority is pre-buying."

        Evonik said orders rose for high-performance polymers, lubricant additives, and cross-linkers, which enhance material durability.

Shares in Evonik were up 2.6% at 1230 GMT. Berenberg analyst Sebastian Bray called the results "quite strong", adding the company had performed better than its peers due to sulphur shortages driving up methionine prices.

Supply chain issues have also eased market pressure in certain segments. Rettig told analysts that heavy competition for cross-linkers from Asian rivals is currently softening due to rising freight costs.

"At the same time, in view of the rapid rise in energy and raw material prices, we are forced to raise our selling prices," the company said in a statement.

Evonik said it expected second-quarter core profit to rise 8% year-on-year to at least 550 million euros, making it the strongest quarter of the fiscal year.

It added rising inflation, and a later drop in demand would probably lead to lower volumes in the second half of the year.

A Reuters analysis of actions taken by around 200 companies globally in the first quarter showed chemicals players were among the hardest hit by the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. Of the 30 actions tracked in the sector, just over half involved financial pressure, guidance cuts or price hikes in response to the rising cost of fuel and other petrochemicals.

Evonik's first-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) fell 15% to 475 million euros, beating a forecast of 448 million euros from analysts polled by Vara research.

($1 = 0.8500 euros)

Evonik outperforms European chemical peers in 2026 https://www.reuters.com/graphics/EVONIK-RESULTS/akpeyrybjpr/chart.png

 (Reporting by Dimitri Rhodes in Gdansk; Editing by Christoph Steitz, Rashmi Aich, Kate Mayberry and Matt Scuffham)

 ((Dimitri.Rhodes@thomsonreuters.com))