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Investing.com -- Shares of Do&Co (VIE:DOCO) jumped more than 4% on Thursday after the company reported stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings, with analysts at Jefferies highlighting continued improvements in profitability and sales performance driven by robust airline catering demand.
Fourth-quarter revenue rose 14% year over year to €524 million, surpassing Jefferies’ estimate of €461 million and beating consensus forecasts of €482 million.
Operating profit climbed 31% to €44.2 million, representing an EBIT margin of 8.4%. That margin marked an improvement from 7.3% a year earlier and came in well above Jefferies’ projected €35 million and consensus expectations of €37 million.
Jefferies analysts attributed the earnings beat to higher utilization of kitchen facilities and disciplined cost management.
They noted that Do&Co is currently involved in multiple tenders aimed at further improving capacity utilization.
Full-year growth was also strong across all segments. Revenue from the airline catering business rose 31.7% to €1.8 billion.
International catering grew 6.2% to €305 million, while revenue from restaurants, lounges and hotels increased 14.7% to €173 million.
Do&Co also reported progress in reducing its debt load. Net debt stood at about €76 million at the end of the quarter, down from €172 million a year earlier.
The company ended the fiscal year with €174 million in cash and cash equivalents. Its net debt to EBITDA ratio dropped to 0.64, from 1.08 the year before.
Jefferies maintained a “buy” rating with a price target of €215, implying 23% upside from the prior close