Akzo Nobel's Q2 core profit misses expectations, sending shares lower
Q2 EBITDA 400 mln eur vs 414 mln eur consensus
Narrows 2024 core profit guidance
Plant closures on track , more to be announced
Shares down 3%
Updates lead with share move, adds CFO raw material comments
By Stephanie Hamel and Charlotte Eugenie Yvette Bawol
July 23 (Reuters) -Dulux paints maker Akzo Nobel AKZO.AS reported a 1% rise in second-quarter core profit on Tuesday, falling short of analysts' expectations due to weaker volume growth and price increases.
Shares in the Dutch company were down 3% at 1026 GMT.
The paints-and-coatings maker has been focused on cutting costs as the wider industry faces a patchy recovery from a post-pandemic slowdown when raw material costs rose and the do-it-yourself market tried to reduce inventory.
Plant closures announced in May in Ireland, the Netherlands and Zambia are on track to be completed by the end of the year, as part of a restructuring plan announced in October.
"We're able to actually close earlier than what we thought, which then frees us up to kind of pull more closures forward," said CFO Maarten de Vries in a call to investors.
In a phone call with Reuters, De Vries also said that Akzo Nobel had been focusing on diversifying its raw material sourcing, in light of the disruptions experienced in recent years.
"We've always tried to make sure that we divide and conquer and don't become too much reliant on Chinese sources and also make sure that the European suppliers remain competitive," he said.
Akzo Nobel reported adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of 400 million euros ($435.60 million), up from 397 million euros a year ago, but below the 414 million euros expected by analysts in a company-provided consensus.
The company said it now expects its 2024 EBITDA at the lower end of its forecast of 1.50 billion-1.65 billion euros.
The company has missed analysts' expectations in recent quarters and its shares have fallen by more than 20% this year.
Revenue decreased 1% in the decorative paints business in the second quarter compared with last year, due to weaker demand in China and Latin America and flat sales in Europe and the Middle East.
However, the group's performance coatings business - which includes industrial coatings for sectors such as marine, automotive and aerospace - saw a 3% revenue increase on the year, bolstered by higher prices and sales and double-digit growth in China.
Akzo Nobel's main competitor, PPG Industries PPG.N, also cut its annual adjusted profit forecast earlier this month, after reporting lower-than-expected second-quarter revenue due to weakness in its industrial coatings unit.
($1=0.9183 euros)
Reporting by Stéphanie Hamel and Charlotte Bawol; Editing by Himani Sarkar, Janane Venkatraman, Neil Fullick, Louise Heavens and Susan Fenton
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