SGL Carbon: Business performance in Q3 2026 supports an upward revision of the full-year earnings forecast

SGL Carbon's consolidated sales in the first nine months of 2026 totaled 594.8 million, down 8.9% from the prior-year figure of 652.9 million. The decline is primarily attributable to the discontinuation of unprofitable business activities in the carbon fiber segment by mid-August of the prior year. Looking at consolidated sales for isolated third quarter 2026 separately, the figure of 200.6 million euros was already back at the previous year's level (third quarter of 2025: 199.7 million euros).

Despite lower consolidated sales (down 8.9%) on a nine-month basis, adjusted EBITDA (EBITDApre) declined at a slower rate, falling 2.1% to 106.3 million (9M 2025: 108.6 million). This is partly due to income-impacting compensation payments totaling 30.4 million resulting from the adjustment of existing supply contracts with semiconductor customers, as well as to a sustained shift in the product mix in the Graphite Solutions and Fiber Composites business units. Accordingly, the adjusted EBITDA margin improved year-over-year from 16.6% to 17.9% in 9M 2026.

Business performance in the third quarter 2026, demand for our products that exceeded our expectations - particularly in the semiconductor and nuclear sectors - as well as the first financial successes resulting from the implementation of our SGL Growth 2030 strategy have led us to raise our earnings forecast for the full year 2026, says Andreas Klein, CEO of SGL Carbon SE.

With depreciation and amortization of minus 37.1 million (9M 2025: minus 39.2 million), adjusted EBIT came in at 69.2 million, on par with the prior year (9M 2025: 69.4 million). Due to significantly lower one-time and special items compared to the prior year - amounting to minus 3.1 million (9M 2025: minus 84.7 million) - EBIT rose to 66.1 million (9M 2025: minus 15.3 million). As a result, the Group once again posted a positive net income of 31.3 million (9M 2025: minus 51.3 million). The prior year was exceptionally impacted by one-time effects resulting from the implementation of the restructuring of the Carbon Fibers business unit.

Development of the Business UnitsThe Graphite Solutions (GS) business unit reported a 10.0% increase in sales to 358.3 million in the first nine months of fiscal year 2026 compared with the same period last year (9M 2025: 325.7 million). Sales include compensation payments resulting from the adjustment of existing contracts with semiconductor customers in the amount of 30.4 million (Q1: 7.7 million, Q2: 21.0 million, and Q3 2026: 1.7 million). These payments, in part, offset contractually stipulated purchase obligations of the customers toward GS.

Partly due to compensation payments, sales to semiconductor customers account for approximately 37.8% of GS sales (9M 2025: 36.5%). Of particular note is the GS Energy market segment, whose share rose from 14.2% to 18.2% on a nine-month basis. The Energy segment also includes sales to customers in the nuclear industry, which increased in Q3 2026 due to the ramp-up of production.

Both the sales development and the changed product mix at GS, as well as earnings-impacting compensation payments, had a positive effect on GS's adjusted EBITDA in the first three quarters 2026. On a year-over-year basis, adjusted EBITDA improved by 23.5% to 71.9 million (9M 2025: 58.2 million). In line with the trends described above, the adjusted EBITDA margin rose to 20.1% (9M 2025: 17.9%).

Due to its dependence on the chemical industry as its most important customer segment, the Process Technology (PT) business unit reported a 27.7% year-over-year decline in sales to 74.0 million (9M 2025: 102.4 million). Rising energy prices, high labor costs, and regulatory requirements are prompting many chemical companies to postpone investment and maintenance projects.

In particular, the cancellation of major projects is reflected in the adjusted EBITDA, which fell significantly from 28.0 million to 11.2 million. In addition to volume effects, lower selling prices also weighed on PT's adjusted EBITDA. Consequently, the adjusted EBITDA margin declined to 15.1% (9M 2025: 27.3%).

Sales in the Fiber Composites (FC) business unit totaled 147.0 million after nine months in 2026, which was 63.5 million below the prior-year figure of 210.5 million. The decline is primarily attributable to a negative impact on sales in the nine-month comparison resulting from the discontinuation of loss-making business activities as part of the Carbon Fibers restructuring until mid-August 2025.

The significantly reduced costs resulting from the restructuring of the carbon fiber business, a shift in the product mix toward more customized customer solutions, and a higher earnings contribution from the BSCCB joint venture of 10.9 million (9M 2025: 5.6 million) led to a significant improvement in the FC business segment's adjusted EBITDA to 28.7 million after nine months 2026 (9M 2025: 17.8 million). The adjusted EBITDA margin improved accordingly from 8.5% to 19.5%.

Debt, Equity, and Free Cash FlowSGL Carbon's balance sheet structure remains solid as of September 30, 2026. Net financial debt decreased from 98.9 million at the end of 2025 to 78.5 million. The leverage ratio improved to 0.6 from 0.7 at the end of fiscal year 2025.

The equity ratio increased to 41.0% (Dec. 31, 2025: 39.2%).

Free cash flow amounted to 38.0 million after three quarters of the current fiscal year, significantly exceeding the comparable figure of 12.5 million from the previous year.

OutlookBased on business performance to date - particularly in the third quarter 2026 - as well as the expectations through the end of the current fiscal year, we refined our sales expectations on October 6, 2026, and raised our earnings forecast for fiscal year 2026. For fiscal year 2026, we expect consolidated sales to be at

LINK:	https://www.sglcarbon.com/en/newsroom/news/press-report/business-perfo...
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