The shares of the material and equipment company for swimming pools Fluidra fell up to 15% on the stock market this Wednesday after cutting forecasts for 2022 on Tuesday night. "Market conditions have been weaker than expected during the third quarter ", it is pointed out, with a lower demand due to the rise in energy, prices and the rise in rates, combined with a "more uncertain" macroeconomic environment.
In anticipation of the price hike, customers stocked up on inventory and now don't need as much product. The company forecasts that sales for this year will be around 2,400 million euros, from the 2,500-2,600 million range that it managed before. The gross profit (ebitda) is also revised downwards, from 600-630 million euros to 500 million. "Like many other businesses around the world, we are experiencing a change in market conditions. In any case, I am confident that we are well positioned to continue to lead the market," says Eloi Planes, CEO.
In the European case, "weakness in demand impacted by low consumer confidence, high energy costs and interest rate increases" is detected, it is specified in a presentation.
The shares of the company based in Sabadell, Barcelona, prolong the fall that they have been dragging for just a year, when they reached a maximum, above 37 euros. Since then, it has lost about 65% of its value, to around 13 euros today. Now capitalized at about 2,500 million euros.
To counteract the situation, Fluidra has a program "to simplify supply to obtain cost benefits, streamline operations to be more efficient, and simplify the organization." With him he wants to save 100 million euros in three years.
