FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - A disappointing business performance in the consumer divisions and an uninspiring earnings forecast for 2023 weighed on Henkel shares on Tuesday. They fell around noon as one of the weakest stocks in the Dax by 2.1 percent to 67.76 euros. The day before, however, they had temporarily reached their highest level in twelve months at 69.54 euros.

"Once again, the consumer division disappointed," wrote analyst Bruno Monteyne of Bernstein in his initial reaction. It is true that the consumer goods and adhesives group grew better than expected on its own in the fourth quarter, he said. "But the reason for this is solely due to the adhesives division," he noted. Meanwhile, the cosmetics business (Beauty Care) and also the laundry and home care business (Laundry & Home Care) missed expectations by a wide margin, he said. Analyst Guillaume Delmas of UBS shared this view and also referred to the significant quarter-on-quarter decline in volumes in all three divisions.

Both experts also criticized the fact that Henkel's guidance for annual earnings per share of plus to minus 10 percent was very wide, which is unlikely to satisfy investors. The forecast offers "a wide range of possibilities," Delmas wrote in his quick assessment of Henkel.

Other experts commented on the outlook a little more favorably. Celine Pannuti of JPMorgan even considers it quite encouraging overall on a comparable basis. For analyst Jörg Frey of Warburg Research, the outlook was mixed. "All in all, neither the figures nor the outlook are likely to be good enough to lead to a positive revaluation of the stock," Frey summed up.

Thomas Maul, an analyst at DZ Bank, came to a similar conclusion: "Only when there are signs of a further improvement in the economic environment and the first successes from the merger of the Beauty Care and Laundry & Home Care businesses become visible do we expect the high valuation discounts compared to the global peer group to be reduced.