(new: introduction, closing price)
FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - Evotec's weak second-quarter figures have further discouraged investors in the pharmaceuticals developer following the revenue warning in July. However, investor interest is now focused primarily on details of the expected sale of the biopharmaceutical production facility ("J.POD") of its subsidiary Just - Evotec Biologics in Toulouse, France.
The share rose by almost 5 percent shortly after trading began on Wednesday, but then steadily declined and slipped into negative territory. Ultimately, the share lost 2.3 percent to 6.43 euros. The company currently needs to recover around 14 percent to make up for the losses incurred since the share price slump on July 21, when it cut its full-year revenue target.
Although the share price had temporarily risen to its highest level since the end of May following the announcement of the J.POD sale on July 30, and at around €7.84 at that time had even more than made up for the previous slump, caution had since returned and the share price had fallen significantly again.
After Evotec lowered its revenue target for the current year around three weeks ago, the quarterly revenue now reported fell short of the consensus estimate, commented analyst Charles Weston of Canadian bank RBC on the results. However, the negative operating result was in line with expectations.
He pointed out that the MDax-listed company had reduced its revenue forecast range for 2025 from €840 million to €880 million to €760 million to €800 million on July 21. The estimate for adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (adjusted EBITDA) of €30 million to €50 million for the current year was maintained.
According to analyst Christian Ehmann of Warburg Research, weak demand remains Evotec's main problem, while the company continues to implement self-help measures. "The strategic realignment has not yet brought about broad-based growth," he summarized. According to him, the main topic of the conference call on that day will therefore be the as yet non-binding agreement on a possible sale of the Toulouse site to Swiss generic drug manufacturer Sandoz, with analysts hoping for financial details.
The operational problems that the realignment is intended to remedy have been weighing on the share price for a long time. Since reaching a multi-year high of almost 46 euros in 2021, Evotec shares have lost around 85 percent of their value./edh/ck/tav/mis/jha/
