Berenberg ups Kemira to 'buy' on strong foundation

Kemira Oyj

02/05/2024 12:53

** Berenberg ups Kemira  KEMIRA.HE  to "buy" from "hold" as
it sees strong foundations for the Finnish chemical solutions
maker
    ** Following Kemira's Q1 results, it is clear that concerns
about the company's ability to retain pricing were overdone, the
broker says, and ups its EBITDA estimate for 2024 from EUR 441
million to EUR 565 million
    ** Having called 2024 the "trough" year for Kemira, the
broker revising the numbers upwards serves to "highlight the
resilient quality of the business"
    ** It says Kemira is now looking at the top of its EBITDA
guidance range of EUR 480-580 million
    ** Kemira is trading at 5.9x our new 2024 EBITDA estimate,
Berenberg says and argues this is "unjustified for a business
that has shown such strong pricing power in the last few
quarters"
    ** It ups TP for Kemira to EUR 24.90 vs previous Helsinki
close of EUR 20.42 on April 30
    ** Berenberg notes the "significantly improved" visibility
for 2024 and adds that Q1 print shows that changes in pricing
and costs have now largely stabilised
    ** Out of nine analysts covering Kemira, seven analysts rate
it "strong buy" or "buy", and two rate it "hold"

 (Reporting by Elviira Luoma)
 ((Elviira.luoma@thomsonreuters.com))