Zurich (awp) – Sika shares were trading higher on Thursday morning on the Swiss Stock Exchange, barely buoyed by increased 2024 sales and in line with the expectations of the group and analysts. Management has confirmed its roadmap for 2028.
Around 9:30 a.m., the construction chemist’s stock rose 0.7% to 219.60 Swiss francs, doing a little better than the flagship SMI index (+0.17%).
In 2024, the Zougois group recorded revenues up 4.7%, or 7.4% excluding currency effects, to 11.76 billion Swiss francs. Organic growth stood at 1.1%, after 1.2% in 2023.
“Despite difficult end markets (in construction and automobiles), Sika has published annual concrete revenues,” said Alexander Koller. According to the Vontobel bank expert, activity should pick up during the year, thanks to low interest rates.
-For Stifel analysts, Europe is “clearly pointing towards stabilization and a recovery is near”. Only the Asia-Pacific region is lagging behind, they found. The latter also expect to obtain more precise objectives for the current new year when Sika’s detailed results are published on February 21.
“But what matters most is that we see a continued recovery in Europe which will support results and therefore the share price,” the experts added.
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