PARIS, February 16 (Reuters) – Umicore fell on the Brussels Stock Exchange on Friday, after publishing results below expectations in the second half, with the group’s outlook also falling below market forecasts.
Around 09:05 GMT, the stock fell by around 4%, while the BEL20 was stable at the same time.
The group’s adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) in the second half fell 17.6% to 453 million euros, a larger drop than the 14.9% drop expected by analysts, according to a Vara consensus.
Umicore also said it was targeting adjusted EBITDA of 900-950 million euros in 2024, below the expectations of analysts who were forecasting an operating profit of 979 million euros.
Read also…
“Given the absence of the one-off item that supported 2023 earnings, as well as the impact of costs related to accelerating capacity expansions in Europe and North America, earnings for the “The whole year is expected to remain roughly in line with the previous year,” the group said in a statement.
According to Wim Hoste, analyst at KBC, the Belgian group’s recycling activities, affected by the fall in metal prices, are to blame for this disappointing performance.
In a note, Jefferies notes the outlook is lower than expected, adding that results are poorly oriented for the second half, “despite cost reduction measures”. (Written by Augustin Turpin, with Nathan Vifflin and Gaëlle Sheehan, edited by Zhifan Liu)
©2024 Thomson Reuters, all rights reserved. Reuters content is the intellectual property of Thomson Reuters or its third party content providers. Any copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. “Reuters” and the Reuters Logo are trademarks of Thomson Reuters and its affiliated companies.