BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - Fuchs Petrolub AG (FUPEF.PK), a company engaged in the lubricant business, Thursday reported a 21 percent decline in its profit after tax for the full year, while sales revenues stood at last year's level.
The Group's profit after tax for the year was down 21 percent to 228 million euros, mainly due to higher withholding taxes on dividends. Earnings per ordinary share was 1.63 euros, compared to 2.06 euros last year.
Earnings before interest and taxes or EBIT declined by 16 percent to 321 million euros, while it was down 14 percent on a comparable basis, excluding the one-off effect from the sale of the trading joint venture in Switzerland in 2018.
Sales revenues for the full year stood at 2.6 billion euros, same as previous year's level. The Group attributed the stable sales to the weakness of the automotive industry in Asia and Europe.
In addition, Fuchs said it intends to propose a dividend of 0.96 euros per ordinary share for the financial year 2019, which corresponds to a 2 percent increase.
Looking ahead to the year 2020, the Group said it expects growth in both sales revenues and EBIT in the low to medium single-digit percentage range, although the economic effects of the Covid-19 virus are not yet foreseeable.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
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