Ashland reports Q4 adjusted EPS 41c, consensus 87c

Reports Q4 revenue $518M, consensus $529.79M. “Results in the September quarter were consistent with the earnings update we issued last week,” said CEO Guillermo Novo. “Customer demand was generally consistent with our expectations in Q4. While we are seeing certain signs of stabilizing demand and reduced destocking actions by customers, there continues to be limited visibility regarding the timing of demand normalization. As a result, we proactively took additional inventory-control actions to manage production, reduce inventory levels and drive stronger free cash flow generation. Although these actions will better position Ashland to operate in an uncertain and potentially lower demand environment, they resulted in Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter and full year that were below our original expectations. To drive improved performance, we are taking portfolio and investment actions during FY24.”