Finance
Dulux maker AkzoNobel's trimmed outlook falls short of market view
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on February 3, 2026
2 min readLast updated: February 3, 2026
Global Banking and Finance Review
Company
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on February 3, 2026
2 min readLast updated: February 3, 2026
AkzoNobel has adjusted its 2026 profit forecast, reporting lower than expected earnings, influenced by currency exchange rates.
Feb 3 (Reuters) - Dulux paint maker AkzoNobel on Tuesday slightly trimmed its forecast for 2026 core earnings, based on end-2025 currency exchange rates, falling short of market expectations that stood above the earlier target.
Shares of the Dutch paints and coatings supplier fell 3% and were at the bottom of Amsterdam's blue-chip index in early trading.
"Looking ahead, based on current market visibility, we don’t anticipate a material recovery across our end markets in 2026," CEO Greg Poux-Guillaume said in a press release. "We expect a weak first half, with the second half helped by easier comparisons."
The Dutch paints and coatings maker forecast adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of at least 1.47 billion euros ($1.74 billion) this year, compared with 1.44 billion in 2025. It had previously guided for 2026 earnings of around 1.48 billion euros.
Last year's earnings broadly met market estimates, but the new guidance was below their average forecast of 1.53 billion euros, a consensus provided by Akzo showed.
"Management are evidently improving the business, with cost-saving plan targets upgraded and corporate costs far below expectations," analysts from Bernstein said in a note to investors, but added the downbeat outlook comments would weigh on the shares.
The group had also trimmed its 2025 guidance in October, citing uncertain market conditions, and as converting foreign currencies to euros became more expensive.
It said at the time it was planning more asset sales in Asia, specifically in units where it does not have a leadership position, after completing the sale of its Indian unit in December.
Poux-Guillaume told Reuters on Tuesday that the sale of the group's Pakistan unit was under discussion with a listed company in the region.
AkzoNobel said it would propose an annual dividend of 1.54 euros per share, unchanged from last year.
($1 = 0.8469 euros)
(Reporting by Dimitri Rhodes in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)
EBITDA stands for Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization. It is a measure used to analyze a company's operating performance by evaluating its profitability before accounting for financial and non-cash expenses.
Market expectations are the anticipated outcomes or performance metrics that investors and analysts predict for a company or economic sector based on available data and trends.
Adjusted EBITDA is a modified version of EBITDA that excludes certain one-time or non-recurring expenses. It provides a clearer view of a company's ongoing operational profitability.
A currency exchange rate is the value of one currency expressed in terms of another currency. It determines how much of one currency can be exchanged for another.
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