Posted Sep 27, 2022, 7:30 PMUpdated on Sep 27, 2022 at 7:48 PM
The reputation of the Dutch school for transfiguring reality through light has spanned the centuries, but Akzo Nobel, the great master of the European paint market, does not pay homage to it. The dark ray cast by the Dutch on the picture of the global economy, with the second touch in three months of its earnings forecast, is hardly flattering.
For the second consecutive quarter, the group overestimated demand which continued from July to September to slip away from under its feet. At second trimester already price increases were no longer sufficient to offset both volume attrition and raw material and freight cost inflation.
The lag, which was then a quarter compared to analysts’ estimates of adjusted operating profit, will be even more marked in the third quarter, around 30%. It should cause expectations for the year to adjust down 15%, according to Oddo BHF.
The Chinese lockdowns, of course, had an impact. But in Europe too, consumers who redid their interiors during the pandemic have put away the rolls, and the distribution channels are destocking at all costs. On the stock market, the title, which is only 16% above the low point of March 2020, could do with a new perspective. The task will fall to the French Grégoire Poux-Guillaume (ex-Sulzer), who will take the brush on the 1er november.
To note
If the lead gained on demand during Covid-19 seems to be losing a little today, Akzo Nobel is nevertheless maintaining its momentum on the upward movement of labels. It will compensate for inflation which, according to the group, should have reached its peak in the third quarter.
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