Syensqo lowers core profit guidance on tariff and geopolitical concerns (updated)
06/11/2025 06:37
Adds management comments on tariffs and FX impact in paragraphs 4-8, context on restructuring in paragraph 9 Syensqo lowers 2025 profit guidance on FX and tariff effects Company sees 120-million-euro hit to core earnings, mostly from FX CEO Kadri in talks with Washington and Brussels over EU-U.S. trade deal By Dimitri Rhodes Nov 6 (Reuters) - Belgian chemicals group Syensqo SYENS.BR lowered its 2025 core profit guidance on Thursday, as U.S. tariffs and broader geopolitical concerns weigh on demand and economic activity across most of its markets. The group now expects underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of 1.25 billion euros ($1.46 billion) for the full year, compared to the previous estimate of 1.3 billion euros. Analysts polled by Vara Research had forecast underlying EBITDA of 1.27 billion euros for 2025. Syensqo expects to book a 120-million-euro hit to its full-year core earnings, with two-thirds attributed to currency fluctuations between the U.S. dollar and the euro, and one-third to tariffs, company executives said on a call with press agencies. That is up from the 100-million-euro estimate it gave in July. "We started the year with an assumption of 1.05 (dollars per euro) ... but what we have seen since July is it's traded more up to 1.2," finance chief Christopher Davis said. A weaker dollar means converting results back to euros can hurt profits even if the underlying business is fine. CEO Ilham Kadri, who also serves as the president of the European Chemical Industry Council, said Syensqo was engaged in talks with Washington and Brussels over the EU-U.S. trade deal, which includes a 15% import tariff on most goods from the European Union. "We rather had zero for zero, but we are managing with our members a 15% to 0% (rate)," Kadri said, referring to what EU players pay for exporting to the U.S. versus what U.S. producers selling to Europe face. She added the council was seeking measures that would not further penalize the competitiveness of European chemical industry players. Syensqo sped up its restructuring measures in May due to heightened demand uncertainty, and continues to target 200 million euros in savings by the end of 2026. As part of that, it completed the sale of its oil and gas division last month. The group reported underlying EBITDA of 326 million euros for the third quarter, down 9.8% organically from the same period last year, but above the 318 million euros expected by analysts on average. ($1 = 0.8575 euros) Euro to U.S. Dollar Exchange Rate in 2025 https://www.reuters.com/graphics/SYENSQO-RESULTS/dwvkqrbxovm/chart.png (Reporting by Dimitri Rhodes in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak) ((Dimitri.Rhodes@thomsonreuters.com;))