Aryzta AG shares fell as much as 5.7 per cent after the Swiss maker of pre-made bread dough and frozen convenience meals said that revenue missed its own forecasts and growth will be erratic over the next 18 months.
Contract renewals in North America and customer changes in Europe will reduce growth by about 3 per cent during that period, the company said in a statement. Margins will remain under pressure in the second half, Aryzta also said.
The company is in a 'fragile recovery mode, still facing a bumpy road ahead', Jean-Philippe Bertschy, an analyst at Bank Vontobel AG in Zurich, wrote in a note.
Revenue rose 0.2 per cent on an organic basis in the six months ended 31 January. While the company’s underlying revenue-growth momentum improved, it was still 18 to 24 months behind prior expectations, chief executive officer Owen Killian said in the statement.
The shares fell 5.2 per cent to 46.33 francs at 9.20 am in Zurich, after making the steepest intraday drop in five months. That values the company at 4.3 billion francs ($4.4 billion). The stock has dropped 40 per cent in the past 12 months.
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