(Reuters) -German chemicals maker Covestro missed second-quarter sales expectations on Thursday, citing a global price decline as U.S. import tariffs led to noticeable strains on supply chains.
The group, whose main products include foam chemicals used in mattresses, car seats and insulation for buildings, said hurdles in export to the U.S.
resulted in a significant oversupply in relevant sales markets, particularly from the Asia-Pacific region, leading to a massive global decline in prices.
Covestro’s revenues fell 8.4% to 3.38 billion euros ($3.86 billion) in the April-June period, missing analysts’ average estimate of 3.55 billion euros in a company-provided consensus.
“In the second quarter, the ongoing challenges posed by weak demand, oversupply, and new trade tariffs had a significant impact on our margins,” CFO Christian Baier said.
Earlier this month, Covestro cut its full-year forecast for the second time this year, citing a continuously weak global economy without signs of a short-term recovery.
It now sees its yearly EBITDA within a range of 700 million euros to 1.1 billion euros, down from a previously expected 1 billion euros to 1.4 billion euros.
The company’s net loss came in at 59 million euros, higher than the consensus expectation for a 40 million euro loss.
($1 = 0.8751 euros)
(Reporting by Bartosz Dabrowski in Gdansk; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)
