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Investing.com -- Shares of Aryzta AG (SIX:ARYN) fell 5% on Wednesday after the company announced the immediate departure of CEO Michael Schai and reduced its FY25 EBITDA guidance.
Schai, who joined Aryzta as CEO in January 2025, stepped down following a decision by the board.
The current Chairman and former CEO, Urs Jordi, will take over the role on an interim basis. Aryzta said the decision to change leadership is in the best interest of shareholders and company performance. UBS described the move as a surprise.
Alongside the leadership change, Aryzta updated its FY25 outlook. The company maintained its expectation for organic sales growth of low to mid single digits, in line with UBS estimates and consensus of 2-3% year-on-year.
However, Aryzta now expects an EBITDA of “at least CHF300m,” compared with consensus of CHF332 million and UBS’s estimate of CHF326 million. UBS noted there is “some 5% to 10% downside risk to FY25 consensus estimates.”
Previously, Aryzta had guided for EBITDA margin expansion. Current guidance implies a contraction of about 100 basis points year-on-year.
UBS attributed this to cost overruns and delays in cost efficiency programmes. UBS said, “thin margin expansion on the current level is not easy to achieve in bakery industry.” The brokerage said it will put its rating and price target for Aryzta under review.