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Bloomberg
Brenntag AG’s first-quarter profit missed analyst estimates after the world’s largest distributor of chemicals was hit by a currency devaluation in Venezuela and slump in demand for additives used by the oil and gas industry.
Earnings were “surprisingly low†due to weakness in the Venezuelan currency, oil and gas and the North American industrial environment.
Brenntag stuck to a full-year forecast for an increase in earnings in 2016 as CEO Steven Holland makes acquisitions to broaden the portfolio and add customers. A gain from acquisitions couldn’t offset a 1.7 percent slump in industrial production in the U.S. in the first quarter.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization fell 1.5 percent to $219 million, the Muelheim an der Ruhr-based company said.