(BFM Bourse) – The atmosphere is grimaceous for Elior. The collective catering specialist fell heavily on the stock market, several financial intermediaries doubted the group’s ability to shine in an inflationary environment.
A group shot. Several local analysts are still not rolling for Elior and let it be known on Monday. JPMorgan, Oddo BHF and especially Stifel show a cautious bias on the file. Enough to fuel Elior’s plunge, already well underway last week. After losing 15% last Wednesday and Thursday, the title of the collective catering specialist still drops 22.6% to 2.08 euros, posting its largest drop after that of March 16, 2020 (-22.58%) and l announcement of the first containment measures in France.
The action is heading not far from the new target price formulated by JPMorgan. The design office which maintains its recommendation to underweight is now targeting 2 euros on the title after 2.5 euros in a previous note. On the side of Oddo BHF, it is a recommendation to underperform with a target lowered to 2.6 euros which is topical. Oddo BHF analysts point to Elior’s difficulties in sourcing raw materials but also in recruiting on the return of summer.
A group “not yet out of the woods”
For Stifel analysts, Elior is simply “not out of the woods yet”, justifying their opinion to sell on the file with a price target lowered to 2.20 euros, against 2.80 previously. In the eyes of the research department, the inflationary environment, the shortage of labor but also the one-off costs linked to the arrival of the new CEO, are all risks that will prevent Elior from meeting analysts’ consensus expectations. .
The analysts on the panel are therefore far from convinced of the effects of the recovery plan initiated by Bernard Gault, who had taken over as interim general manager of the company (and has since become CEO of the group) after the departure of Philippe Guillemot in early March. last.
The latest communication from the collective catering specialist reported better than expected activity, with in particular organic growth of 25% for its third quarter of its 2021-2022 financial year. The group then explained that it had benefited from “more favorable sanitary conditions, but also from strong commercial development and an increase in the retention rate” of its customers. At the same time, Elior confirmed its objectives for this same financial year and its medium-term ambitions. An optimism that had then seduced investors, Elior had even closed the session of July 27 with a hearty gain of 31.35%.
Since then, investors are no longer convinced of Elior’s return to better fortune. The stock has lost more than two-thirds of its value since the start of the year. Elior’s valuation has been divided by seven since its (successful) return to the stock market at a price of 14.75 euros in June 2014.
Sabrina Sadgui – ©2022 BFM Bourse
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