FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - The shares of Auto1 slipped to last place in the second-line index SDax on Wednesday, falling 6.3 percent to 5.12 euros. This means that a large part of the recovery attempt from the record low of 4.68 euros in mid-December to the interim high of 6.60 euros at the beginning of January has been lost.

Following discussions with the management of the online car dealer, analyst Marcus Diebel from the US bank JPMorgan expects a weaker end to the year than he had previously thought. In particular, sales in the Merchant segment, the platform for used car dealers, are still under pressure.

His lowered expectation for the adjusted operating loss in 2023 of 49 million euros is now at the lower end of the company's target range, the expert wrote in a study. The company expects a loss before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization adjusted for special effects of minus 39 to minus 49 million euros. His price target, which has been lowered from 6.30 to 6.20 euros, is nevertheless still above the current price level. He continues to rate the shares as "Neutral".

The recovery of Auto1 shares had already come to a halt at the beginning of January following a skeptical study by US bank Morgan Stanley. Analyst Pete-Veikko Kujala explained that the company would have to make further substantial investments on its way to becoming a potential European champion in the online used car trade. Auto1 will therefore probably need two to three years longer than generally assumed to reconcile growth and profitability. The expert therefore gave the shares an "underweight" rating with a target price of EUR 4.60.

However, there are also optimistic analysts, such as Alexander Zienkowicz from Alster Research. In view of the sluggish development of the German used car market in December, the expert reduced the target price from 9.30 to 9.00 euros, but still sees sufficient scope for a "buy" rating. The market is still not returning to a post-corona normality. In addition, the current inflation and interest rate environment is causing uncertainty with a view to 2024. Nevertheless, Zienkowicz remains confident that Auto1 will continue to improve efficiency and profitability targets./mis/ajx/he