(News Bulletin 247) – The Nantes ETI is slashing its outlook for the current year, after revealing a net loss for its first half of 2024.

The lights are clearly red for Lacroix. The action of the specialist in technological road management equipment fell 5.8% to 16.10 euros this Tuesday, in a Parisian market which is trying to recover from its heavy drop recorded on Monday.

The content of the half-year accounts announced Monday evening is sanctioned by investors as are the prospects formulated by the Nantes electronics group founded in 1936. Lacroix has in fact lowered its annual objectives after revealing results penalized by difficulties of its northern subsidiary -American.

Between January and June, Lacroix’s turnover stood at 350.3 million euros, down 7% in published data compared to the 376.6 million euros generated in the first half of 2023. group recalls that for these two reference periods, the consolidated turnover does not include the City-Mobility segment, which is now treated as a “discontinued activity”, following the planned sale of this activity announced last spring.

On a like-for-like basis, revenues were down 4.9% year-on-year, excluding the signaling business, the sale of which to the American investment company AIAC was effective at the beginning of May. Lacroix recalls that these changes in scope are the result of its refocusing on a new group focused on “value-creating activities”.

Degraded results

A little further down in the accounts, the group’s current gross operating profit (Ebitda) fell by 22.4% to reach 18.3 million euros in the first half of 2024. The corresponding margin is down sharply to 5.2% at mid-year 2024, compared to 6.3% the previous year.

Lacroix attributes this margin erosion to its North American activities. Excluding Lacroix Electronics North America, the current Ebitda margin would have reached 7.9% of revenue and increased by 105 basis points (1.05 percentage points) compared to its level in the first half of 2023 (6. 9%).

The group’s share of net income fell into negative territory, to the tune of 13.3 million euros, compared to 5.6 million euros in the first half of 2024, weighed down among other things by a depreciation of assets linked to the abandonment of the City-Mobility activity, and by financial expenses which amounted to 5.5 million euros over the period.

A “contrasted” second part of the year

In terms of prospects, visibility is not good for Lacroix, who says he expects a “contrasted” second part of the year. The company anticipates “positive dynamics” for its “environment” activity, itself driven by the water and “smart grids” market, although a slight slowdown in growth is expected. expected after the excellent performance of the first half of 2024.

The group admits to suffering from low visibility in the “HBAS (home and building automation systems)” and “automotive” segments, i.e. automobiles and building automation. As for the recovery of Lacroix Electronics North America, the company explains that it remains hampered by “persistent industrial inefficiency issues”.

In this context, the company took advantage of this publication to announce updated objectives for the year 2024. These new targets take into account recent and future changes in the scope.

Lacroix now anticipates a turnover of around 640 million euros in 2024 on a new scope which will only include a four-month contribution from the “signalling” activity and which excludes the “City-Mobility” activity. . The previous estimate announced by Lacroix included the “City-Mobility” division and reported a turnover of more than 710 million euros for 2024.

The forecast for the current Ebitda margin is also lowered, and is expected in a range between 4% and 4.5% compared to a previous limit of 5.5% to 6.5%.

Despite everything, Lacroix says it is “confident in the medium term” and is preparing a roadmap for the period 2025-2027 which will be revealed on the occasion of the publication of the annual results, on March 31, 2025. For the company, this will involve to win back investors who have been burned by the share price, which has fallen 42% since the start of the year.