In its operating results to the end of September 2019 that were published today (28 October), the merchanting group reported sales of €1.56bn (£1.35bn). On a like-for-like basis, they were down by 7.2%.

EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) was down 17.5% as reported, and by 16.2% on a like-for-like basis, to €41.5m. This includes the unfavourable €1m impact arising from the disposal of the group’s southern African subsidiaries.

EBITDA margin was down by 0.2 points to 2.7%. Gross margin was down by 9.3% as reported to €380.4m, or by 7.2% on a like-for-like basis.

The group recently implemented accounting standard IFRS 16 for the first time, and under this metric, EBITDA was stated at €73m.

Antalis said the business environment “continued to deteriorate during the third quarter in Europe, Asia and Latin America, with knock-on effects on sales in the group’s various business sectors and geographies”.

In particular, it said volumes in the European papers market contracted sharply by 8% in the nine-month period, compared to the equivalent period in 2018, and that prices reversed their upward trend and began to decrease in the spring.

Industrial Packaging markets, especially in the automotive sector, were also affected to a lesser extent, the group added.

The main European geographies (UK & Ireland, France, Germany and Austria) reported sales of €805.5m (down 8.9% as reported), owing to the “sharp contraction” in papers volumes coupled with the negative impact of the bankruptcy of Arjowiggins, albeit partially offset by the resilience of Antalis’ Packaging and Visual Communication business sectors.

Sales for the rest of Europe were down by 5.6% to €648.2m and for the rest of the world were down by 31.7% to €109.4m.

“As the business outlook remains uncertain in many countries in which the group does business, Antalis will continue to leverage its strong market positions to improve its product mix and to cut costs,” the company said in a statement.

“Based on its operating performance through 30 September, Antalis confirms that, on a comparable basis and at constant accounting methods, it should record a year-on-year decrease in sales of between 5% and 7% compared to 2018 and deliver an EBITDA margin of between 2.7% and 2.9% for full-year 2019.”

Finally, Antalis confirmed that it is continuing to progress in the search for a new shareholding structure and “will inform the market once it is in a position to announce definitive steps”.

Shares in Antalis were down by 2.7% to €0.72 in early trading this morning but had since rallied slightly to €0.73 at the time of writing.