Key Takeaways
- Celanese warned a slowdown in its business could continue into the first quarter.
- Celanese said it anticipates continued weakness in its core end-markets, with “further deterioration” in demand.
- Shares of Celanese plunged Wednesday and have lost more than half their value in the past 12 months.
Celanese (CE) shares plunged Wednesday after the specialty chemicals maker warned a slowdown in its business could continue in the current quarter.
The company reported a fourth-quarter operating loss of $1.4 billion, with revenue of $2.4 billion, a 10% drop from the third quarter. The company said it faced decreases of 7% in volume, 2% in price, and 1% in currency.
CEO Scott Richardson said that during the period Celanese dealt with “further demand deterioration that gave no sign of easing.”
The company added it expects “sequential demand and pricing challenges experienced in the fourth quarter to be largely unchanged in the first quarter,” and anticipates “continued weakness in core end-markets like automotive, construction, paints, coatings, and industrial.”
Celanese projected first-quarter earnings per share (EPS) in the range of 25 cents to 50 cents, below analysts’ expectations compiled by Visible Alpha. However, the company added it could see “meaningful improvement” in the second quarter.
Celanese shares were down nearly 20% in early trading Wednesday and have lost more than half their value in the past year.
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