(AOF) – TP Icap Midcap has raised its recommendation on Bonduelle shares from Sell to Hold while maintaining its price target at 10.2 euros. The analyst explains that “the company’s prospects are rather encouraging with a targeted increase in turnover of 5% and an anticipated current operating profit of between 75 and 80 million euros, above our expectations. meeting scheduled for this morning will allow us to have details to achieve these objectives in a context of degraded food consumption.
Last Friday, Bonduelle published current operating income up nearly 27% to 65.9 million euros (compared to 64.1 million euros expected). Its current operating margin increased by 2.7%, an increase of 30 basis points.
The recovery in profitability is explained by price increases in Europe and the ongoing recovery of activities in the United States as well as a good performance in Russia.
Its net profit reached 14.5 million euros compared to 35.4 million euros last year, suffering from strong growth in financial costs in particular.
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Learn more about the Agri-food sector
Soaring energy prices and a call for help
In the past, energy represented a fixed cost of 3% of turnover. This year, this percentage rises to 5% or even 7% for VSE-SMEs, according to Ania (National Association of Food Industries. Professionals are very worried because until the end of 2022 they generally benefit from coverage to cushion these increases. However, they are not renewed for 2023 and after. Consequently, 25 of the main inter-professional organizations (Intercéales, Inaporc, Semae, etc.) are calling on the State for help in the face of the erosion of their margins and their capacity to investment.
The State has proposed several devices, including an “electricity shock absorber”, which are considered insufficient. The organizations also deplore the failure of European negotiations to achieve a price shield to avoid distortions of competition. Agriculture and agri-food demand a maximum ceiling price of €180/MWh while many companies buy at prices above €500/MWh on the French market.