BarcelonaFluidra’s shares closed this Wednesday’s session on the Spanish stock market with a 14.8% drop, as a result of a downward revision made by the company on Tuesday to sales and gross profit operating (ebitda) in the third quarter against an environment of greater economic uncertainty. The Catalan firm’s shares have lost 2.2 euros in value during the day, from 14.83 at the close on Tuesday to 12.63 euros this Wednesday.
The company notified the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) on Tuesday evening that it expects sales in the third quarter of 2022 to be around 520 million euros, 7% less than the previous year (adjusted by exchange rate), at the same time predicting that the ebitda in the third quarter will be around 95 million euros, compared to 120 million in the third quarter of 2021.
The Catalan group specialized in the world of swimming pools detailed that the results have been affected in the short term by “a correction of inventory in the channel higher than expected in an environment of greater economic uncertainty”. According to the company, disruptions to the supply chain, coupled with accelerating demand in 2020 and 2021, led to high inventory levels in the supply chain.
In addition, Fluidra noted that inflation further accelerated inventory build-up as, particularly in North America, distributors acquired additional inventory to get ahead of price increases: “Fluidra is now seeing a normalization of inventory levels in the supply chain,” the statement said. The company also noted that the uncertain macroeconomic environment, particularly in Europe, is leading to weaker demand due to “weak consumer confidence” stemming from rising energy costs, other inflationary pressures and the rise in interest rates.
Taking into account the results of the third quarter and the estimates until the end of the year, Fluidra predicts that sales for the year will be around 2.4 billion euros – a growth close to 10% in interannual terms – and that the ‘ebitda exceeds 500 million, a figure that will be below that of last year. Fluidra has revised upwards the objectives of the simplification program and hopes to achieve, in addition, savings of 100 million euros over the next three years. The company has highlighted that its business is “in transition towards a normalized ordering pattern”.