Publigroupe: Profit warning causes share price to plummet
Publigoupe's profit warning on Thursday was not appreciated by investors. The share price plummeted, although the company also announced drastic measures to get the business back on track.
The share was down 8.5 percent to CHF 13.90 by around 11.30 am. In contrast, the overall market (SPI) rose by 0.4 percent. According to the news agency AWP, the analysts' tenor is that the strategic direction is the right one. Because the printed advertising business is on the decline, Publigroupe wants to push further into the online business.
Publigroupe: Restructuring and reduction of 200 jobs planned
Although the measures announced are far-reaching, they are not the big hit that one could have speculated on, Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB) wrote in a commentary according to SDA. A division of the group, the discontinuation of Media Sales, which includes the traditional advertising business with newspapers, as well as a full takeover or a sale of the holdings in Zanox or local.ch would also have been conceivable. Analyst Andy Schnyder from Bank Vontobel also welcomed the fact that Hans-Peter Rohner's dual mandate would come to an end at the 2012 Annual General Meeting and that a new CEO would take the helm. And the announced special dividend from the sale of real estate should outshine the new profit warning, according to the analysts. The sale of the properties should bring in a mid double-digit million amount.
