HOUSTON—Citing a challenging macroeconomic environment, particularly in the automotive markets, Orion Engineered Carbons has revised it full year earnings forecast, lowering its anticipated earnings.
"For the second half of the year, we anticipate that customers will continue running at conservative production and inventory levels for the remainder of 2019," CEO Corning Painter said upon release of the second quarter financial results Aug. 1.
Orion lowered its earnings (adjusted EBITDA) forecast for 2019, saying it expects to fall into a range of about $265 million to $285 million. This is down from the previous estimates of of $280 million to $300 million. The revised guidance also takes in to account negative effect of product mix in the specialty segment, as well as the negative impact of feedstock differentials in both rubber and specialty units, Painter added.
With this economic backdrop, Painter said Orion would continue to focus on "actions within our control." These efforts include improving profit, working on pricing, gaining qualifications on new products, and debottlenecking targeted products.