Feb 5 (Reuters) - German chemicals group Evonik said on Thursday it would amend its dividend policy from next year, after it reported preliminary 2025 core earnings broadly in line with market expectations.
The company said it booked an adjusted core profit of 1.87 billion euros ($2.20 billion) last year, just below analysts' forecast of 1.88 billion euros in a poll by Vara Research.
It also forecast an adjusted core profit of 1.7 billion to 2.0 billion euros for 2026 and said the economic environment would remain challenging.
The German chemical sector, the country's third largest industry, has been struggling for years with subdued demand coupled with high energy costs, supply chain issues and a sluggish economy.
"We need a good balance between appropriate shareholder profit sharing and the ability to invest in the best future projects at the proper time and decrease leverage further," CEO Christian Kullmann said in the statement.
Future dividends will range between 40% and 60% of the group's adjusted net income, Evonik said, adding the policy would become effective from the payout made for 2026 results.
It will propose a dividend of 1 euro per share to be paid from its 2025 earnings, its lowest since 2014.
($1 = 0.8484 euros)
(Reporting by Tristan Veyet, Antonis Pothitos in Gdansk, Matthias Inverardi in Duesseldorf, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)
By Tristan Veyet and Antonis Pothitos
