Celanese (CE) shares plunged Wednesday after the specialty chemﷺicals maker warned a🌜 slowdown in its business could continue in the current quarter.

The company reported a fourth-quarter 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:operating loss of $1.4 billion, with revenue of $2.4 billion, a 10% drop from the third quarter. The company said it faced decreases of 7% in volume, 2% in price, and 1% in currency.

CEO Scott Richardson said that during the period Celanese dealt with “further demand deterioration that🤡 gave no sign of easing.”

The company added it expects “sequﷺential demand and pricing challenges experienced in the fourth quarter to be largely unchanged in thಞe first quarter,” and anticipates “continued weakness in core end-markets like automotive, construction, paints, coatings, and industrial.”

Celanese projected first-quarter earnings per share (EPS) in the range of 25 cents to 50 cents, below analysts' expectations compiled by Visible Alpha. However, the company added it could see "meaningful improvement" in the second quarter.

Celanese shares were down nearly 20% in early trading Wednesday and have lost more than half their value in the past year.