Barco's strong orders don't equal strong sales, shares fall
19/07/2021 08:56
** Shares in Barco BAR.BR fall 12.4%, set for worst day
since October, after the company H1 order intake lagged
conversion to sales
** Barco's H1 orders rose 17% to 465.6 million euros
($394.41 million), driven by strong demand growth for healthcare
and entertainment, but didn't translate well enough into sales
which reached 366 million euros (-6% y/y)
** "The conversion of orders to sales was hindered by
prolonged pandemic induced restrictions and, to a lesser extent,
component shortages," Barco said in a statement
** Sales has continued to lag orders, due to a combination
of uneven recovery in economic activity and supply chain
constraints, the company added
** As a result, KBC Securities cut its rating to "hold" from
"accumulate"
** Additionally, in Friday's preview note to clients, ING
cited consensus expectations of sales edging up 0.7% to 376
million euros on order intake of 456 million euros
** Stock is at the bottom of Belgium's blue-chip index BEL
20 .BFX , while broad European markets .STOXX trade in red
(-1.36%) as the COVID-19 Delta variant woes scare investors off
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($1 = 1.1805 euros)
(Reported by Clement Martinot)
((Clement.martinot@tr.com))