By Leo Marchandon and Jakob Van Calster
(Reuters) -French advanced materials supplier Mersen reported higher-than-expected annual consolidated sales of 1.24 billion euros ($1.29 billion) on Wednesday, marking organic growth of 2.6%.
Mersen’s Chief Financial Officer Thomas Baumgartner told Reuters on a call that the group surpassed its initial yearly organic growth forecast of 1% to 2%. He attributed this partly to a rebound in the silicon semiconductor market towards the end of 2024.
The company, which counts Alstom and Samsung as clients, pushed back its 2027 financial targets to 2029 in December due to the slowdown in the electric vehicle market. This includes its sales goal of around 1.7 billion euros ($1.8 billion).
Mersen also faces potential disruptions from prospective U.S. tariffs under the Trump administration, but Baumgartner said he did not expect any significant impact. The company has a definite advantage on tariffs and exchange rates due to its local model of supply and production, he noted.
Driven by three acquisitions in the United States, the North American region was the only one posting sales growth in the fourth quarter, of 12.1%. Sales fell 2.9% for Europe, 12% for the Asia Pacific, and 24.5% for the rest of the world.The company now expects to end 2024 with operating margin before non-recurring items of 10.5%, at the upper end of forecasts.
($1 = 0.9601 euros)
(Reporting by Leo Marchandon, Jakob Van Calster and Mara Vîlcu; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Richard Chang)
