Virbac halves 2022 debt reduction target, shares fall to bottom of SBF 120
16/09/2022 09:43
** Virbac VIRB.PA shares slump about 8.6% to the bottom of
France's SBF 120 .SBF120 index after the animal drugs maker on
Thursday halved its debt reduction target for 2022 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN30M1PD
** It expects to reduce debt by 30 mln euros this year,
excluding dividend, vs earlier forecast of 60 mln euros
** "Debt reduction will be less than expected given the
necessary increase in working capital, inflation and the
building of safety stocks," Midcap Partners analyst Sarah
Thirion says, calling the share move "exaggerated"
** She adds the wage, raw material, energy and transport
inflation could persist in 2023, potentially limiting margin
growth, while price increases could negatively impact volumes
** Virbac also reported H1 current operating profit of 155.5
mln euros, up 13% from a year earlier
** Peer Vetoquinol's shares fall more than 11% after posting
a 5.5% drop in H1 EBITDA on Thursday urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N30N187
($1 = 1.0041 euros)
(Reporting by Olivier Sorgho)
((Olivier.Sorgho@thomsonreuters.com))