FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - Schott Pharma eased investors' concerns about its business performance to some extent on Thursday. The shares of the top and packaging manufacturer for the pharmaceutical industry continued their recent attempt to bottom out with an increase of almost 6 percent to 28 euros. The company had previously reaffirmed its outlook for the financial year to the end of September when it presented its final figures for the second quarter.

If the shares close above the 21-day line - a short-term trend indicator - and overcome the most recent recovery high of EUR 28.40, a further price recovery could take shape.

Analyst Falko Friedrichs from Deutsche Bank takes a positive view of the confirmation of the annual targets against the backdrop of ongoing difficulties in the end markets and selective destocking on the customer side. In the second quarter (to the end of March), the Drug Containment Solutions division remained stable - despite the headwind from the reduction in customer inventories. Meanwhile, Group growth was driven by the Drug Delivery Systems division. Friedrichs continues to rate the shares as a "buy" with a target price of 35 euros.

The entire industry is still feeling the effects of destocking by pharmaceutical companies that - in hindsight - overstocked on glass vials, ampoules and syringes during the coronavirus crisis.

In mid-May, Schott Pharma's expectations for the coming financial year were then dampened due to reduced sales of syringes to a major customer. The company, which is listed in the second-tier stock index SDax, announced at the time that currency-adjusted sales are likely to increase by a high single-digit to low double-digit percentage in the 2024/25 financial year starting on October 1, which is less than the market expects.

The share price collapsed as a result and continued to slide in the following weeks. In mid-June, the share price then fell below the issue price of the IPO at the end of September of 27 euros. By way of comparison: before the skeptical outlook for the coming financial year, the shares had cost around 37 euros. The record high reached at the end of February, slightly above the EUR 43 mark, is even further away.

With the current attempt at recovery, Schott's shares are now worth 4.2 billion euros again. That is more than the 3.4 billion euros of its MDax-listed competitor Gerresheimer. The fact that Schott is nevertheless "only" listed in the SDax is due to the low free float. The parent company, the Mainz-based specialty glass manufacturer Schott, holds 77 percent of the shares. Qatar Holding, an anchor investor, also holds 4.9 percent./mis/ag/jha/