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Investing.com -- Aalberts Industries NV (AS:AALB) shares plunged 12.8% on Thursday after the Dutch industrial technology company reported disappointing first-half results and lowered its full-year guidance, citing continued softness in key end markets and global trade uncertainties.
The company reported first-half EBITA of €210 million, down 13% from €242 million a year earlier and 4% below analyst consensus of €219 million.
Revenue declined 4% to €1.56 billion, with organic revenue falling 3.2%, slightly worse than the 2.9% decline analysts expected.
Aalberts now expects no improvement in organic revenue growth in the second half and adjusted its full-year EBITA margin outlook to 13-14%, down from previous expectations and below the consensus forecast of 14.5%.
"Our performance for the first half of the year has been impacted by the continued softness of our end markets, mostly automotive and semicon, and increased uncertainties due to global trade policies," said CEO Stéphane Simonetta.
The company’s semicon segment was particularly weak with a 13.4% organic revenue decline, worse than the 10.4% drop analysts anticipated. Industry segment revenue fell 4.9% organically, while the building segment showed modest growth of 1.4%.
Despite the revenue challenges, Aalberts maintained its added value margin at 63.3% through pricing excellence and organic growth initiatives. Free cash flow improved 18% to €56 million, helped by reduced capital expenditure and inventory optimization efforts.
"We remain confident about our ability to execute our ’thrive 2030’ strategic actions to emerge stronger in the long term," Simonetta added.
Earnings per share before amortization fell to €1.38 from €1.61 in the same period last year.
The company’s net debt increased 29% to €971 million, with the leverage ratio rising to 1.6 from 1.2 a year earlier, primarily due to recent acquisitions.