After completing the takeover of US competitor SVS Vision, the optics group Fielmann expects more sales for the current year.
Because of the takeover costs, however, the Hamburg-based company initially expects a small contribution to earnings. Fielmann completed the takeover of SVS Vision on Thursday and will consolidate the US company from September 1st.
The optician chain had already announced a new forecast when the half-year figures were presented last week. External sales are likely to increase by 13 percent to 2.3 billion euros in 2023, the company announced on Friday in Hamburg. So far, Fielmann had aimed for an increase of seven to ten percent compared to the previous year.
In terms of the operating result, the contribution from US business will still be negligible in the current year, but will improve significantly in 2024, explained Fielmann. For earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda), the company expects an increase of 18 percent to around 400 million euros in 2023, which is in the upper range of the previous forecast of growth of 9 to 21 percent. The pre-tax result should also increase by 18 percent to more than 190 million euros.
At the beginning of July, Fielmann announced the takeover of SVS Vision and the Canadian company Eyevious Style with its e-commerce platform Befitting, thereby venturing into North America. According to the information at the time, SVS Vison was valued at the equivalent of around 105 million euros, Eyevious Style at around 35 million euros – each without cash and debt.
Fielmann was optimistic about his medium-term goals. The investments should continue to have a positive effect on sales growth and the ongoing savings program should have a positive effect on the margin.
This is how the stock reacts
The shares of the Fielmann optician chain gradually expanded their price gains on Friday and reached their highest level since the end of July by late afternoon. Most recently, they rose by 8.91 percent to EUR 47.18. They thus broke the downward trend that started in mid-July to the upside. A forecast increase served as a driver. According to DZ Bank, however, the extent of this is somewhat lower than hoped, because the decision was probably made to use a conservative forecast.
In the afternoon, the Fielmann shares, the clear leader in the SDAX small-cap index, rose by 8.5 percent to EUR 46.98, bucking the market trend. After initially jumping over the 21-day moving average as a signal for the short-term trend, they are now also testing the 50-day moving average for the medium-term trend with the current plus.
After completing the takeover of US competitor SVS Vision, the optician chain expects more sales for the current year. Fielmann completed the takeover on Thursday and will consolidate the US company from September 1st.
The analysts from Alster Research consider the optician market to be generally attractive, as the latest business figures from the competitor Mister Spex have also proven. The papers of the online optician reacted to the business figures on Thursday with strong growth. They were last listed moderately higher before the weekend.
HAMBURG / FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX)
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