(Reuters) -Schneider Electric announced Thursday to anticipate a stronger increase than expected of its beneficiary margin for 2025 after having exceeded expectations in terms of turnover in the last quarter last year.

The action climbed more than 6% at 08:16 GMT and recorded the highest increase in the CAC 40 index which at the same time took 0.25%.

The French group, specialized in energy management equipment for homes, industry and data centers, said planned an adjusted margin before interest, taxes and depreciation (EBITA) between around 19.2% and 19.5% for the current tax year, supported by organic growth in turnover between 7% and 10%.

Analysts awaited an adjusted Ebita margin of 18.8% and organic sales growth of 8.1%, according to a consensus compiled by the company.

Jefferies analysts provided for a positive reaction of the action “due to the solidity of forecasts, but also a rebound in part of the underperformance recorded from the information on Deepseek”.

The action recently suffered from uncertainties surrounding the artificial intelligence model (AI) presented by the Chinese startup Deepseek last month, which could mark a turning point in the economic model of the sector and question the domination of Western companies in this industry.

In 2024, the Schneider Ebita margin appeared at 18.6% and organic growth at 8.4%, exceeding the group’s own forecast (18.1% to 18.3% and 6% at 8%, respectively).

“We are starting 2025 in a strong dynamic,” said Olivier Blum, CEO of Schneider Electric in a press release, adding that the group’s activities had accelerated in the fourth quarter and that he was on the right track to reach his ambitions for 2027 .

Turnover in the fourth quarter increased 12.5% ​​in organic to reach 10.70 billion euros, which is greater than 10.17 billion euros planned in a consensus provided by the group .

On the year, the group recorded a turnover of 38.15 billion euros, an organic rise of 8.4%.

Sales were supported by the performance of the energy management division, carried by the continuous dynamics in the final markets of the data centers and the infrastructure, the group said.

Artificial intelligence (IA) in full swing requires enormous computing power, which feeds the demand for specialized data centers and electrical systems that accompany them.

In North America, which represents 36% of the group’s total turnover, turnover increased by 21.9% in the fourth quarter, supported by the final market of data centers and continuous improvement of ‘Execution of the logistics chain.

(Written by Diana Mandiá, with Anna Peverieri, edited by Kate Entringer)

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