By Andrea Figueras


Shares in Allegro.eu rose after the company swung to an aftertax profit for the second quarter and said it was able to cut debt on the back of margin improvement and cash generation.

At 1014 GMT on Thursday, shares traded 6.4% higher at PLN32.09.

The Polish e-commerce company said aftertax profit for the second quarter was 119.0 million Polish zlotys ($27 million) compared with a loss of PLN63.5 million in the same period last year.

Revenue rose 8.5% to PLN2.4 billion, driven by an 18% increase in its Polish operations boosted by monetization initiatives together with strong advertising, it said.

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization grew 20% to PLN580.4 million.

"Adjusted Ebitda was 11% ahead of consensus due to a 6% beat in Poland and better-than-expected level of international losses," Citi analysts said in a research note.

The company expects third-quarter consolidated revenue to rise between 3% and 5%, and adjusted Ebitda growth in a range of 23% and 25% on year, it said.

Allegro's solid second-quarter adjusted Ebitda beat and third-quarter guidance should be taken well, especially on the back of the weak share price performance, Citi says.

The company said net debt at the end of June was PLN5.92 billion, down 5.5% since the start of the year.


Write to Andrea Figueras at andrea.figueras@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

09-28-23 0646ET