Company news and results
AB InBev hosted an Investor Seminar. Tons of slides on 🍺. After years of acquisitions, they are focusing on organic growth and are targeting EBITDA growth of 4-8% over the medium-term.
Ashtead, the industrial equipment rental company, increased rental revenue by 18% in the second quarter and raised its full year 2021/22 guidance. Rental revenue is expected to increase 17-20% at group level, compared to previous guidance of 13-16%.
The CEO commented:
The Group’s strong performance continues with rental revenue up 20% for the half year over the prior year, but more importantly up 14% when compared with the first half of 2019/20, both at constant currency…
…In the period, we invested $1.2bn in capital across existing locations and greenfields and $428m on 10 bolt-on acquisitions, adding a combined total of 58 locations in North America. We have a healthy bolt-on pipeline and have already spent a further $320m in the third quarter
Ferguson, the plumbing and heating products distributor, reported a 26.6% increase in net sales and a +230bps improvement in operating margin. Full year expectations “have increased”.
Since the start of the second quarter, Ferguson has generated revenue growth similar to that of Q1 2022. We continue to expect a tapering of growth in the second half on tougher prior year comparatives and we remain mindful that the recent tailwinds from inflation on gross margins will likely moderate, although the timing and extent remain uncertain. Given the strong momentum in the business and the agility of our business model, our full year expectations have increased.
HelloFresh hosted a Capital Markets Day and provided an outlook for 2022:
…the Company expects revenue growth for the HelloFresh Group on a constant currency basis between 20% and 26%. The arithmetic average of published broker estimates for Euro-reported revenue growth of the HelloFresh Group for 2022 as of 7 December 2021 amounts to 17.7%. The Company expects an adjusted EBITDA ("AEBITDA") for the HelloFresh Group for the full year 2022 between EUR 500 million and EUR 580 million (arithmetic average of published broker estimates for 2022 AEBITDA as of 7 December 2021: EUR 647 million)
Revenue guidance was better than market expectations but profitability was poorer. Mid-term, the margin outlook remained unchanged:
Hermès hosted its first Analyst Day since *check notes* they listed almost 30 years ago. Tons of slides on why the company is so unique. Their track record speaks for itself:
Deals and IPO
Nestle sale of L'Oreal shares pleases investors on both sides (link)
Vivendi accelerates Lagardere purchase, extending media empire (link)
Intertrust agrees to $2 bln takeover bid from corporate services firm CSC (link)
AstraZeneca weighs spinning out COVID-19 products into separate company: Bloomberg (link)