In a trading statement on Aug. 7, Lenzing, the Austrian producer of cellulosic fibers, reported group revenues of €1.09 billion, a rise of 1.3 percent from last year's comparable period. The company attributed this to favorable currency effects and the optimization of its product mix, as well as to higher prices for specialty fibers, whose share of overall revenues went up to 48.4 percent from 44.1 percent in last year's first half. However, both the net profit and the Ebitda margin were down for the period. The former dropped by 15.9 percent to €76.8 million, and the latter from 18.1 percent to 16.6 percent of sales. Lenzing is confirming its outlook for 2019 despite a “significantly more challenging” market with historically low prices for standard viscose.