IMCD heads for best day in 3 yrs on resilient margins

IMCD

01/03/2024 08:30

** IMCD's  IMCD.AS  shares rise around 7% after it reported
"decent" FY results, with profit margins exceeding expectations
despite a small consensus miss on revenues
    ** The Dutch specialty chemicals maker reports gross profit
and EBITA margins of 25.3% and 11.6%, respectively, on revenues
of 4.44 billion euros ($4.80 billion)
    ** "While revenues were slightly below our expectations,
margins especially in EMEA and APAC were better than we
anticipated," KBC Securities says, citing boost from margin
improvement initiatives, a better-than-expected product mix, and
lower negative impact of acquisitions
    ** KBC says EBITA margin is 28 basis points above its
expectations, while for gross profit margin it penned 24.8% 
    ** "Management continued to reinforce the company through
acquisitions, gross margin improvement initiatives and
operational efficiency improvements," Degroof Petercam adds
    ** The broker expects IMCD to return to positive organic
growth this year, after the 2023 decline versus a very high base
    ** The stock, which tops Amsterdam blue-chips  .AEX , heads
for its best day in over 3 years, and trades at mid-Jan highs
    
($1 = 0.9248 euros)

 (Reporting by Piotr Lipinski)
 ((piotr.lipinski@tr.com))