Pricing pressures and lower than expected demand in certain markets and industries, particularly the specialties division, impacted these results.
Operating gross profits declined by 5.1% to €984 million.
The company’s specialities operating EBITA stood at €107 million while Brenntag Essentials achieved an operating EBITA of €186 million, the latest financial report revealed.
Christian Kohlpaintner, the company’s CEO, said: “Although our resilient business model with its global reach and broad portfolio enabled us to capture business opportunities, we are not satisfied with our performance in the first quarter of 2024.
“The difficult market conditions wih geopolitical tensions and the continuing inflationary trends led o pricing pressures and lower than expected demand for certain markets which adversely impacted our results in both divisions.”