Swedish engineering group Alfa Laval jumped on the Stockholm Stock Exchange this Thursday after forecasting an improvement in demand in the second quarter.
The specialist in heat exchange, fluid separation and transfer reported this morning adjusted operating profit before non-recurring items (Ebita) of 2.44 billion kronor for the first quarter, compared with 2.39 billion kronor a year earlier.
This performance was well below the analysts' consensus of 2.60 billion.
Sales rose to 14.9 billion euros, compared with 14.1 billion a year earlier, but were again below the 15.8 billion expected by analysts.
The fact that sales and earnings fell short of forecasts has taken a back seat today", the analysts at RBC noted in a note.
"The market's attention is more focused on the evolution of demand, which was not only robust in the first quarter, but seems to be gaining momentum in the second", added the Canadian broker.
In its press release, Alfa Laval indicated that it was indeed expecting a 'significant improvement in demand in the second quarter compared with the first'.
Following these announcements, the share price climbed 7.5% on Thursday, posting the second highest rise on the Stockholm Stock Exchange's OMXS30 index.
Copyright (c) 2024 CercleFinance.com. All rights reserved.
Alfa Laval AB specializes in the design, manufacturing and marketing of equipment and industrial systems for heating, cooling, separating and transporting of substances (oil, water, chemical and food substances, drinks, drugs, etc.). The activity is organized mainly arounf two families of products:
- solid and liquid treatment systems: systems for cooling, evaporation, extraction, drying, etc. intended primarily for the food processing, pharmaceutical, petrochemical, and energy sectors;
- production process equipment: decanters, heat exchangers, pumps, valves, air and liquid filtration systems, etc.
Net sales are distributed geographically as follows: Sweden (2.2%), Europe (32.5%), China (14.1%), South Korea (5.5%), Asia (18.2%), United States (16.7% ), North America (2.1%), Latin America (5.6%), Africa (1.9%) and Oceania (1.2%).
ALFA LAVAL AB 
