FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - The personnel services provider Amadeus Fire has missed its profit target for 2023 due to a special write-down and a high sickness rate. Operating earnings before interest, taxes and goodwill amortization (Ebita) rose by 3.5 percent last year, the company announced on Wednesday on the basis of preliminary figures. However, the management had aimed for the lower end of the target range of 7 to 9 percent. The SDax-listed share was largely unimpressed.

It initially traded slightly lower at the start of trading, but then turned positive and was recently around half a percent higher. However, the volume of shares traded was very low. At a price of EUR 109 per share, the share is continuing the sideways trend of recent weeks. Since its high in November 2021, the share price has almost halved. However, it has recovered by a third from the all-time low reached in September 2022. Amadeus is currently worth around 600 million euros on the stock market.

The earnings growth of 3.5 percent achieved in 2023 was sufficient for an operating profit (Ebita) of 70.4 million euros with an increase in Group turnover of 8.7 percent to 442.4 million euros. However, both of these are record figures, as the Frankfurt-based company also announced. According to a trader, turnover is slightly above the average analyst estimate, while profit is slightly below.

In the training segment, the operating result almost doubled, according to the statement. In the personnel services segment, however, operating profit fell, partly because the fourth quarter in particular was characterized by an extraordinarily high sickness rate. The final results and an outlook for 2024 will be published on March 19. Shareholders will then also find out what dividend will be proposed to them./mis/lew/nas/jha/