(Reuters) – The Belgian Metal Recycling Group Umicore announced on Wednesday its intention to sell its immobilized gold stocks for around 410 million euros ($ 476 million), in order to benefit from metal record prices.

Gold exceeded on Wednesday for the first time the $ 4,000, taking advantage of the appetite of investors for assets deemed safe in the face of increased economic and geopolitical uncertainty and the expectations of new interest rate reductions by the American Federal Reserve (Fed).

The UMICORE action climbed more than 5% to 16.21 euros on the Brussels Stock Exchange around 9:00 am GMT, at a summit for more than a year. The market capitalization of the company reached 4.1 billion euros.

In a statement, Umicore said that it would sell and praise its immobilized stocks within its jewelry and industrial metals and maturing precious metals divisions.

The Belgian group produces semi-finished gold used in jewelry, electronics and many other industries. It also recycles the gold of electronic waste or refines it to make industrial components such as wires.

The sale will generate a net gain after taxes of 370 million euros as well as a contribution to the EBITDA of around 480 million euros.

The operation represents a significant unlocking of liquidity thanks to the vigor of gold prices, underlines in a note Chetan Udeshi, analyst at JP Morgan.

“In the case of gold, the company estimated that it was more effective to rent the metal rather than owning it, because the gold rental market is very liquid and the rental costs are also attractive with a relatively stable trend,” he adds.

(Written by Gianluca Lo Nostro; Elizaveta Zhuravleva, edited by Blandine Hénault)

Copyright © 2025 Thomson Reuters