Brenntag reports Q3 2026 growth and confirms full-year outlook

Group performance

Brenntag reported Q3 2026 sales of EUR 4.263 billion, up 12.7% year on year on a constant-currency basis. Operating gross profit increased 10.4% to EUR 1.064 billion, while the gross margin declined 0.6 percentage points to 24.9% as higher sourcing costs flowed through. Operating EBITDA rose 14.5% to EUR 385 million, and the conversion ratio improved to 36.2%.

Volumes were broadly stable. The cost-out programme delivered EUR 47 million in quarterly savings against the 2025 baseline, taking cumulative savings for the first nine months to around EUR 115 million. Free cash flow was EUR 183 million, compared with EUR 315 million a year earlier, reflecting an EUR 88 million working capital outflow.

Divisions and priorities

Essentials generated EUR 765 million in operating gross profit and EUR 276 million in operating EBITDA, both up 12.4% on a constant-currency basis. Specialties recorded EUR 299 million in operating gross profit, up 5.4%, and EUR 110 million in operating EBITDA, up 2.5%. Brenntag also reported progress on commercial initiatives and organisational simplification, and opened a Nutrition Innovation & Application Center in Jakarta in September.

Outlook and acquisitions

Brenntag confirmed its 2026 operating EBITDA guidance of EUR 1.35 billion to EUR 1.45 billion and expects to finish towards the upper end. The outlook assumes no broad-based decline in customer demand and reflects typical Q4 seasonality and continued geopolitical and market uncertainty.

At the end of October 2026, Brenntag completed its acquisition of Woojin Trading, a South Korean distributor of beauty and personal care ingredients. The Airedale Group acquisition, completed in February 2026, contributed to quarterly earnings; integration of Airedale and Chem Tech was progressing to plan.