MADRID/BARCELONA, 19 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Fluidra’s shares closed this Wednesday’s session with a drop of 14.83%, as a result of a downward revision of the company’s sales and gross operating profit (Ebitda) for the third quarter in an environment of increased economic uncertainty.
The titles of the Catalan firm have lost 2.2 euros in value during the day, from 14.83 at the close on Tuesday to 12.63 euros today. In fact, the company has established itself as the ‘red lantern’ of the Ibex this Wednesday by being the listed company that has fallen the most in the selective.
The company expects sales for the third quarter of 2022 to be around 520 million euros, 7% less than the previous year (adjusted for the exchange rate), while it forecasts that the Ebitda for the third quarter will be around 95 million euros, compared to 120 million in the third quarter of 2021.
The group explained yesterday in a statement that the results have been affected in the short term by “an inventory correction in the channel higher than expected in an environment of greater economic uncertainty.”
According to the company, disruptions in the supply chain, coupled with accelerating demand in 2020 and 2021, led to high stock levels in the supply chain.
He pointed out that inflation accelerated the accumulation of inventories even more, since, particularly in North America, distributors acquired additional stocks to anticipate price increases: “Fluidra is now seeing a normalization of inventory levels in the supply chain supply,” he added.
He also pointed to the uncertain macroeconomic environment, especially in Europe, which is causing weaker demand due to “low consumer confidence” stemming from rising energy costs, other inflationary pressures and rising interest rates.
Taking into account the results of the third quarter and the estimates up to the end of the year, Fluidra forecasts that sales for the year will be over 2,400 million euros -an increase of close to 10% in year-on-year terms- and that Ebitda will exceed 500 million.
Fluidra has revised upwards the objectives of its simplification program and expects to achieve savings of 100 million euros over the next three years.
The company has highlighted that its business is “in transition towards a normalized order pattern”, driven by the growth of installed pools and a higher average ticket due to technological improvements in pool renovation.
