AHRENSBURG (dpa-AFX) - Image processing specialist Basler has noticeably lowered its outlook due to a persistent market slump. Thus, instead of €235 million to €265 million, sales for the full year should now only be between €200 million and €215 million, the SDax company announced in Ahrensburg on Monday. Because the management wants to counteract this by cutting around 200 full-time jobs and thus expects costs in the millions, it expects a pre-tax loss of 12 to 20 million euros. The share price fell sharply.

The SDax-listed stock slipped by up to 12.5 percent, most recently trading down 10.4 percent at 14.26 euros. In the current year, the share price has lost a good half. Basler has a market capitalization of around 430 million euros. According to company information, 53 percent of the shares belong to the holding company of company co-founder Norbert Basler.

Previously, the company had targeted a pre-tax return of between 5 and 8 percent, and thus projected a pre-tax profit of just under 12 to just over 21 million euros. The weakness in demand on the Asian and American markets remains, and there are also increasing signs of recession in Europe, Basler said. The management no longer expects a recovery of demand before the beginning of 2024; moreover, it will be slower than previously assumed.

The savings and restructuring program is expected to cost 11 to 13 million euros, most of which will be incurred in the third quarter. At the end of March, the company had 1139 employees - according to this, around one in six jobs is now facing redundancy. The medium-term plans of around 400 million euros in sales in 2025 are also too ambitious and will have to be revised, it was said. Management intends to provide an update at the turn of the year, as soon as the duration and intensity of the market weakness can be better assessed.

In the first half of the year, the group was hit by weak demand, also because customers reduced their strongly increased inventories. Basler manufactures cameras for industrial machinery, medical technology equipment, and traffic control, among others.

The company intends to continue its general course of developing from a camera manufacturer to a full-range supplier in the computer vision sector. The company will present its detailed half-year report on August 10./men/mne/mis