Shares down nearly 11% (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Milan, 30 Aug - Shares in Aquafil were sharply lower after the Italian nylon producer announced a 40 million euro capital increase and issued a disappointing guidance for 2024.

At 0950 GMT, Aquafil was down 10.92% at 2.57 euros.

The company plans to carry out the capital increase by the end of 2025 to help finance its business plan "as well as at capturing possible consolidation opportunities in the market." In the first half, Aquafil posted revenue of 288.1 million euros, down 7.4% year on year, EBITDA of 32.6 million euros, up 4.0%, and a loss ot 6.1 million against a loss of 4.1 million a year earlier.

Net debt amounted to 243.0 million euros at June 30, down from 248.5 million at December 31, 2023.

In its business plan, Aquafil, expects an EBITDA of 65 million euros and net debt of 207 million in 2024, EBITDA of 80-87 million and net debt of 185-195 million in 2025 and EBITDA of 90-96 million and net debt of 157-167 million in 2026.

The broker Intermonte noted that the 2024 guidance is below its forecast of EBITDA at 76-79 million euros.

Aquafil plans to invest 90-100 million euros over the three-year period to 2026, of which 30-35 million euros for "ordinary investments" and 60-65 million "aimed at increasing and/or optimizing production capacity or for the development of new product innovations," it said.

Aquafil will hold a meeting with the financial community on September 12.

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(RADIOCOR) 30-08-24 11:56:12 (0267) 5 NNNN