(Adds details about quarterly performance in paragraph 4, CEO quote in paragraph 6, 2024 outlook details in paragraph 7)

Feb 29 (Reuters) - Swiss specialty chemicals maker Clariant posted a 31% fall in its fourth-quarter core profit on Thursday but it came ahead of analysts' expectations.

It reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of 106 million Swiss francs ($120.70 million), compared with 154 million francs a year ago, citing lower volumes, restructuring expenses and a hit due to the shutting down of the sunliquid bioethanol production in Romania.

But the EBITDA beat a company-provided analysts' poll of 72 million francs.

It also reported sales of 1.06 billion francs for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, down 10% organically in local currency from a year earlier.

Clariant said it, however, saw volume growth during the quarter as end markets stabilized.

"Robust performance in the quarter was nevertheless below the strong base of the prior year, when Catalysts delivered record sales," Chief Executive Conrad Keijzer said in a statement.

For 2024, the company sees low single-digit annual local currency growth and an improvement in reported EBITDA margin to around 15%. ($1 = 0.8782 Swiss francs) (Reporting by Antonis Pothitos and Marta Frackowiak in Gdansk; Editing by Kim Coghill and Rashmi Aich)