Signify published quarterly results on Friday that were broadly in line with expectations, but its forecasts for 2024 were disappointing, and the stock was down 4% by mid-morning on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange.

The Dutch lighting specialist reported fourth-quarter sales of 1.73 billion euros, down 12.3% on a reported basis.

Net profit came to 59 million euros, compared with 86 million euros a year earlier.

While analysts welcomed the comfortable amount of free cash flow generated by the company last year - 586 million euros compared with 445 million in 2022 - they considered its outlook somewhat disappointing.

For 2024, Signify said it was aiming for an adjusted Ebitda margin 0.5 percentage points better than the 10% recorded for the full year 2023, while it ended the fourth quarter with a margin of 12%.

And while the Group also announced an increase in its annual dividend, from 1.50 to 1.55 euros, the share was sulked Friday morning on Euronext Amsterdam, posting a 4.4% drop at 11:30 a.m.

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