Voucher group Edenred's slowing sales knock shares
Writes through with slowing sales growth, share reaction and analyst comments
By Dimitri Rhodes and Anna Peverieri
July 23 (Reuters) -Shares in France's Edenred EDEN.PA tumbled more than 9% on Tuesday after the voucher and card provider's quarterly revenue growth fell below 20% for the first time since the end of 2022.
Edenred, which is known for its "Ticket Restaurant" vouchers, said its revenue grew 16% on a like-for-like basis in the second quarter, versus 21% in the first three months of the year.
High inflation and interest rates have boosted benefits providers like Edenred and Pluxee PLX.PA, as employers sought ways to support staff without raising wages, but the expected easing of interest rates could pose a threat to sustaining this growth.
Edenred's half-year group revenue was 1.40 billion euros ($1.52 billion), just ahead of analysts' consensus of 1.39 billion.
Morningstar analyst Michael Field noted the Complimentary Solutions unit, Edenred's smallest, showed weakness for the second quarter in a row, hit by the discontinuation of a social services voucher programme in France and the expiration of a contract in the U.S.
Edenred's three businesses, which also include Food Benefits and Mobility, often compensate for each other if results dip in one segment, Field told Reuters. "So when one business seems to be semi-permanently impaired then it's a slight concern."
Chief Executive Bertrand Dumazy told analysts in a call that Edenred was not planning to sell parts of Complimentary Solutions, though it was actively managing its solutions portfolio.
The company said it expects a core profit (EBITDA) of between 1.23 billion and 1.30 billion euros for the full year, after previously forecasting like-for-like growth of above 12%.
The widening of the guidance from more than 1.25 billion euros implies EBITDA growth of between 4% and 15%, a slowdown from the 24% rise seen in the first half, Jefferies said in a note.
Edenred's half-year EBITDA rose to 597 million euros driven by the integration of Reward Gateway, which it acquired in May 2023.
It now expects its annual total revenue to exceed 5 billion euros by 2030, compared with its previous 5 billion euro target.
($1 = 0.9202 euros)
Reporting by Anna Peverieri and Dimitri Rhodes in Gdansk; editing by Milla Nissi
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