DÜSSELDORF (dpa-AFX) - Plant manufacturer Gea is confident for the current year following growth in sales and operating profit. "We want to continue to grow organically," said Group CEO Stefan Klebert in a conference call on Thursday. Turnover is expected to increase by two to four percent this year under its own steam. Although this is slightly less than in the last two years, it is in line with the current economic development. The company is starting with a good order backlog. Investors on the stock market reacted skeptically. The share came under pressure in the course of trading.

In 2024, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) and before restructuring expenses are expected to account for 14.5 to 14.8 percent of sales. The company is still aiming for a margin of 15 percent by 2026, Klebert said. In 2023, this figure was 14.4 percent.

In difficult economic times, the company is primarily looking to generate incoming orders, the manager emphasized. "We are certainly doing much better than the majority of mechanical engineering companies worldwide." In addition to new orders, the company will also grow through innovation. More money is to be invested in the latter than in previous years. At the same time, the company is keeping an eye on costs.

Despite the overall positive growth expectations, the current economic environment is still characterized by high energy, raw material, material and personnel costs compared to before Covid-19, as the MDax group announced in Düsseldorf. Gea will continue to counter this in 2024 with price increases and efficiency measures.

The shares initially climbed to their highest level since May 2023, gaining a good 6 percent in the meantime. Recently, however, selling prevailed and the share price turned negative. By midday, they had lost around one percent to 38 euros. This means that the share is roughly as expensive as it was at the beginning of 2024.

Analysts see light and shade in the balance sheet for 2023 and the outlook for the current year. Stephan Bauer from Bankhaus Metzler, for example, sees his positive assessment confirmed by the targets announced for 2024. UBS expert Sven Weier saw the figures and outlook as reassuring, but ultimately also as a "non-event". However, he explicitly praised the order situation in the short-cycle business, which promises more momentum overall in the current year.

Sebastian Kuenne from Canada's RBC Capital, on the other hand, is also cautious about the shares. Looking at the current business figures, he criticized the operating result. Although Gea met expectations in operational terms (EBITDA), reported earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) were below expectations in the final quarter due to surprisingly high depreciation and amortization.

Gea earned more operationally in 2023 thanks to lower costs. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) and before restructuring expenses increased by almost nine percent year-on-year to EUR 774 million in 2023. The Group thus met both its own expectations and those of industry experts.

Turnover climbed by four percent to 5.37 billion euros last year. Excluding currency effects, earnings increased by 8.4 percent. At the bottom line, net profit fell by a good two percent to 393 million euros, partly due to higher income tax expenses. The dividend is to rise from 95 cents to one euro per share. However, analysts had expected a little more on average./mne/zb/mis