600 million loss

Lenzing gets “Chief” for crisis management

Lenzing gets a new board member.

(Bild: Daniel Scharinger)

Lenzing, the listed fiber manufacturer, is expanding its Management Board and appointing Walter Bickel as "Chief Transformation Officer" to manage the crisis. The Supervisory Board has appointed Bickel as a member of the Management Board until December 31, 2025 with effect from April 15, the company announced.

Lenzing is struggling with weakening demand for specialty fibers and had to make write-downs in the triple-digit million euro range in 2023.

"After careful consideration, the Supervisory Board has come to the conclusion that an expansion of the Management Board is the right step to overcome the current crisis and the associated major challenges," said Lenzing Supervisory Board Chairman Cord Prinzhorn. Bickel is an "experienced manager" and will help the fiber manufacturer to emerge "stronger from this difficult phase".

Loss of almost 600 million euros
In the previous year, the company wrote down the value of five production plants by EUR 465 million due to changed economic conditions and reported a net loss of EUR 593 million for 2023 on sales of EUR 2.5 billion. The Lenzing plants affected by the write-downs are located in Indonesia, Austria, China, Thailand and the USA.

The Upper Austrian company with around 7,900 employees worldwide processes wood into pulp and uses it to produce fibers for the fashion, retail, industry, cosmetics and hygiene sectors.

Share price plunge
On Thursday, the Lenzing Management Board announced that the existing dividend policy of at least EUR 4.50 per share would be suspended "indefinitely". As a result, the fiber manufacturer's share price fell by nine percent. Over the past twelve months, Lenzing's share price has fallen by more than 40 percent.