(new: experts and more details)

FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - Stagnating hydrogen projects left deep marks on the share price of Thyssenkrupp Nucera on Wednesday. The shares fell by up to 13.5 percent in the SDax. This is because final investment decisions by customers have yet to be made. The share price only stabilized somewhat just above the record low of EUR 11.55, which dates back to April. At 12.30 euros, the drop was reduced to around eight percent.

Thyssenkrupp's share price drop is also likely to have had a certain impact on its subsidiary, but the parent company also reported bad news. As the Essen-based company continues to struggle with a weak economy and lower steel prices, the outlook for sales in 2024 was lowered. The effect was a four percent discount to 4.73 euros. At its peak, the losses even amounted to more than eight percent.

In both cases, traders said that there were disappointing aspects in the quarterly reports. In the case of Nucera, Deutsche Bank expert Michael Kuhn said the main issue was that the company had reduced its growth expectations for the alkaline water electrolysis (AWE) business. Although this does not surprise him, it is not yet reflected in the consensus estimates.

"We are currently observing a discrepancy in Europe and North America between originally planned projects and final investment decisions on the necessary electrolysis capacities," commented Christoph Noeres, Head of the division. According to analyst Kuhn, many customers are also waiting for the final legal framework to be in place before making their decisions. However, he also noted that progress is being made with some projects.

At Group level, Nucera specified this year's sales target at 820 to 900 million euros, while the analyst consensus was 979 million, according to RBC expert Erwan Kerouredan. Disappointing news on the outlook came from parent company Thyssenkrupp, which now expects sales to be below the previous year's level. Previously, stagnation had been forecast.

In the case of Thyssenkrupp, Christian Obst from Baader Bank said that the figures were "a mixed bag with a negative touch" due to the sales target. On the other hand, the Group delivered an operating result (EBIT) above expectations in the second quarter and confirmed the targets for EBIT and free cash flow. According to the expert Moses Ola from the US bank JPMorgan, the sales target harbors the risk that the EBIT estimates will nevertheless be reduced on the market.

Both shares are still struggling to recover from the recent weakness, as they have been among the biggest losers in their MDax and SDax indices so far this year. While Thyssenkrupp shares have lost a quarter of their value so far, Nucera 2024 shares have lost a third.

Thyssenkrupp still holds half of the shares in Nucera after the IPO, while around a quarter is held by its Italian partner Industrie De Nora. The free float traded on the stock exchange is therefore relatively low./tih/nas/jha/