Borregaard Posts Record EBITDA of NOK 557 Million in Third Quarter of 2026
Key Facts
Borregaard said EBITDA reached a record NOK 557 million in the third quarter of 2026, compared with NOK 440 million in the same period of 2025, while operating revenues rose to NOK 1,894 million from NOK 1,799 million. The company said results improved across all business areas and that operating performance at the Sarpsborg biorefinery was strong. Pre-tax profit rose to NOK 394 million from NOK 247 million, while earnings per share increased to NOK 2.96 from NOK 1.96. Chief Executive Tom Erik Foss Jakobsen said the company had delivered "the highest quarterly EBITDA ever, with higher results in all business areas and strong operating performance at the Sarpsborg biorefinery." The record followed EBITDA of NOK 515 million in the second quarter of 2026, compared with NOK 522 million in the second quarter of 2025.
BioMaterials made the largest business-area contribution to the increase, with segment EBITDA reaching a record NOK 210 million, compared with NOK 112 million in the third quarter of 2025. The company attributed the improvement to higher deliveries and strong production, which lifted the segment result against the corresponding period. In BioSolutions, EBITDA rose to NOK 284 million from NOK 277 million. The company said selective price increases and savings from its cost improvement program supported the result, despite weak demand in some end markets. This comparison covers the third quarter alone; the company noted that BioSolutions' results declined in the first nine months of 2026 compared with the corresponding period of the previous year.
Fine Chemicals recorded EBITDA of NOK 63 million in the third quarter, compared with NOK 51 million a year earlier. The company linked the improvement to higher deliveries of chemical intermediates and bioethanol, alongside selective price increases for intermediates and savings. Results in all three business areas therefore rose year on year in the quarter, but the drivers differed: pricing and cost reductions in BioSolutions, deliveries and production in BioMaterials, and higher deliveries and savings in Fine Chemicals. At group level, Borregaard said savings from the cost improvement program and improvements to the energy system contributed positively to quarterly results, while net currency effects were also positive.
The annual cost improvement plan targets savings of NOK 150 million, to be realized gradually, with the full effect expected in 2028. The previous quarterly comparison shows that EBITDA in the second quarter of 2026 was NOK 515 million, down from NOK 522 million in the second quarter of 2025; in that quarter, BioSolutions' result declined while BioMaterials and Fine Chemicals improved. In the third quarter, all three business areas posted results above their levels in the corresponding period of 2025, with BioMaterials reaching a record. These results put the program's savings and improvements to the energy system among the factors the company said supported performance, alongside each segment's operating and pricing drivers.
Looking to the fourth quarter, the company expects spot prices for electricity, liquefied natural gas and sulfur to rise, alongside a seasonal increase in energy consumption. The annual maintenance shutdown at the Sarpsborg site will also affect production volumes. This follows the company's report of strong operating performance at the biorefinery in the third quarter, while energy and input costs and production conditions are among the factors in its outlook for the next period. Borregaard is scheduled to report fourth-quarter 2026 results on 3 February 2027 at 07:00 Central European Time.