By Amira McKee

Ashland logged lower revenue, driven by declined sales in its personal care and specialty additives business.

The additives and specialty ingredients company posted a loss of $12 million, or 30 cents per share, in the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with a loss of $165 million, or $3.50 a share, a year earlier.

Sales fell 5% to $386 million, missing the $402.1 million that Wall Street had forecast, according to FactSet.

Life sciences sales grew by 4%, but the gains were more than offset by declines of 8% in personal care and 11% in specialty additives.

The company said that the divestiture of its Avoca business reduced sales by approximately $10 million, or 2%. Excluding the divesture, sales declined 3%.

Pricing also declined 2% across segments, primarily reflecting carry-over adjustments from the prior year.

Ashland also received a $103 million tax refund in October 2025 related to the capital loss carryback from its divestiture from Nutraceuticals in 2024.

The company narrowed its sales guidance for fiscal year 2026 to between $1.84 billion and $1.91 billion.

Ashland also sees adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of $400 million to $420 million, narrowed from prior guidance of $400 million to $430 million.

For 2026, the company expects double-digit growth in adjusted earnings per share excluding intangibles and amortization, reflecting operating improvement and progress in portfolio optimization.

Write to Amira McKee at amira.mckee@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 02, 2026 17:58 ET (22:58 GMT)

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