OVS outperforms downbeat market as H1 growth strengthens FY view
21/09/2023 10:20
** Shares in Italy's OVS OVS.MI rise as much as 5.5% after
the clothing retailer on Wednesday posted strong H1 results and
announced a second 20 mln euro ($21.3 mln) buyback extension
** The stock pares gains to alternate between slightly up
and marginally down by 11 a.m. local time (0900 GMT), still
outperforming the broadly red Milan stock exchange
** Growth in H1 sales and core profit offset a 5% drop in Q2
EBITDA, which was weighed down by higher costs
** Positive H1 figures also strengthened the group's
expectations for improved performance YoY, it says
** "OVS group continued, as expected, to overperform the
reference market further increasing its share," says Intesa
SanPaolo
** The broker notes that despite "a very bad May", OVS's H1
EBITDA grew 5% YoY, bringing the margin up 10 basis points from
a year earlier
** Equita says the stock has been under pressure over the
last few months due to concerns over resilience of Italian
consumption in Europe and Italy
** At Wednesday's close, the stock had lost about 25% from
its highs in early May
($1 = 0.9383 euros)
(Reporting by Alberto Chiumento)
((Alberto.Chiumento@thomsonreuters.com;))