Ashland Guides To $405 Million-$435 Million Adjusted EBITDA For Fiscal 2027 After A Fourth-Quarter Loss
Sales rose 4% to $498 million, but a Hopewell plant problem cut Specialty Additives earnings 31%.
Ashland, which makes additives and specialty ingredients for pharmaceuticals, personal care products and coatings, forecast fiscal 2027 adjusted EBITDA of $405 million to $435 million, against $385 million in fiscal 2026. The outlook came with a fourth-quarter net loss of $16 million, reported Tuesday, even as quarterly sales climbed 4%.
A loss beside growing sales
Fourth-quarter sales were $498 million, up from $478 million a year earlier, according to the earnings release. Volumes rose 3% and pricing 2%.
The loss from continuing operations was $17 million, or $0.36 per diluted share, against income of $33 million, or $0.73 a share, a year earlier. The quarter carried $18 million of asset impairments, a $13 million Argentina liquidation translation adjustment and $9 million of restructuring costs, all treated as one-off items.
Adjusted EBITDA, which strips out those items, rose 2% to $121 million from $119 million. Margin slipped to 24.3% from 24.9%.
Hopewell drags Specialty Additives
Specialty Additives adjusted EBITDA fell 31% to $20 million from $29 million, which the company tied to lower productivity at its Hopewell plant and the unfavorable absorption of fixed costs that followed. Segment sales were flat at $131 million, with coatings up 9% and performance specialties up 14%.
Elsewhere, Life Sciences adjusted EBITDA rose 16% to $64 million, with a margin of 35.6%, which the company called the segment's highest quarterly margin. Personal Care adjusted EBITDA rose 14% to $49 million, and Intermediates rose 20% to $6 million.
CEO Guillermo Novo said the company has "completed the critical investments needed to support improved productivity at our plants."
The fiscal 2027 targets
Ashland guided to fiscal 2027 sales of $1,905 million to $1,975 million, roughly 2% to 6% growth, and free cash flow conversion above 40% of adjusted EBITDA. It estimates currency headwinds of about $20 million to $25 million on sales and $7 million to $10 million on adjusted EBITDA.
For the full year, sales were $1.863 billion and adjusted EBITDA was $385 million, down from $401 million. Ongoing free cash flow reached $232 million, versus $127 million in fiscal 2025, helped by lower inventory and capital spending. Net income was $4 million, against an $845 million loss that included a $706 million non-cash goodwill impairment.
The company ended the year with about $480 million of cash and net debt of $891 million, a net leverage of 2.3 times.
Ashland holds its analyst webcast at 9 a.m. ET on Wednesday, with a slide presentation posted on its investor site.
Sources
- 8-K Filing — ASHLAND INC. (ASH) — SEC EDGAR
- Exhibit ash-ex99_1.htm — ASHLAND INC. 8-K exhibit — SEC EDGAR
