VIENNA—Semperit A.G. Holding has raised its annual earnings outlook, as COVID-19 continues to drive demand for medical rubber gloves.
In a Nov. 6 release, the Vienna-based group said its earnings estimates would be "significantly above the previous year's figures and the previous forecast."
The upgrade, it said, was supported by the positive impact of the pandemic on demand and prices of medical products. Group EBITDA for the full year now is expected to come in at $238 million to $267 million, up from $80.8 million in 2019.
The figure is well above Semperit's previous estimate, announced in September, which anticipated full-year earnings of $196 million to $238 million.
Accordingly, EBIT for full-year 2020 is anticipated to be between $273 million and $303 million, up from a loss of $20 million last year. The upward revision, Semperit noted, will be on the condition of uninterrupted availability of raw materials.
Semperit announced in September that it is delaying the planned divestment of its Sempermed gloves business for at least another nine months. The decision was taken on the back of the "extremely positive" contribution of the unit to the Austrian group's earnings.