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Investing.com -- Munters Group AB (ST:MTRS) shares jumped 13% following a strong first quarter performance, with the company’s net sales climbing to SEK 3.71 billion, marking an 18% increase year-over-year (YoY) and a 5% organic growth.
This growth outpaced the Modular Finance consensus by 4%, bolstered by significant gains in the Data Center Technology (DCT) and FoodTech segments, which saw organic increases of 43% and 23%, respectively. However, the AirTech division experienced a 13% decline due to reduced demand from the battery market.
The company’s adjusted EBITA rose by 6% YoY to SEK 502 million, surpassing consensus estimates by 14%, and yielding a margin of 13.5%, although this was lower than the 15.0% margin reported in the first quarter of the previous year. The margin beat consensus expectations of 12.3%, with the DCT segment’s margins particularly robust at 22.8%, well above the anticipated 19.4%.
On the other hand, the AirTech segment’s performance was notably weaker with a margin of just 4.8%, impacted by lower production utilization and an unfavorable product/regional mix.
Munters has reported that its cost-saving initiatives are on track and anticipates a gradual improvement in margins. The order intake for the quarter was strong, totaling SEK 3.56 billion, a 27% YoY increase and 8% organic growth, again beating consensus by 4%.
This was despite a weaker-than-expected performance from the DCT sector, which was completely balanced out by stronger results from AirTech and FoodTech.