Swiss EMS Chemie's sales slip on depressed demand and higher costs (updated)

Ems Chemie Holding AG

25/04/2024 10:32

(Adds currency impact in paragraph 2, analyst comments in 3)
       April 25 (Reuters) - Swiss nylon manufacturer EMS Chemie
 EMSN.S  reported an 11% drop in first-quarter net sales on
depressed consumer demand and lingering high raw material and
freight costs, it said on Thursday, while confirming its 2024
forecast. 
    First-quarter net sales dropped to 545 million swiss francs 
($596.2 million), in line with expectations, with the company
citing a subdued global economy and a nearly 7% hit to sales
from a stronger Swiss franc than in the same period last year.
    The company started to increase prices at the end of the
first quarter and should continue to do so in the second
quarter, Mirabaud analyst Anja Pomrehn said in a note predicting
improved net operating profit and margins over the first half.
    EMS Chemie confirmed its 2024 outlook for net sales to
remain consistent with 2023 while operating profit is projected
to be slightly higher than last year.
    The company expects the economic environment to remain
challenging, it said, citing delays to interest rate cuts and
geopolitical turbulence as significant factors affecting demand.
    Its primary High Performance Polymers business reported an
11% fall in net sales to 493 million Swiss francs. 
    The Specialty Chemicals arm, a smaller segment that
contributes about 10% of total revenue, registered a decline of
13.5% year on year.
($1 = 0.9141 Swiss francs)

 (Reporting by Alberto Chiumento
Editing by Janane Venkatraman and David Goodman
)
 ((Alberto.chiumento@thomsonreuters.com))