By Alessandro Parodi and Philippe LeroyBeaulieu
(Reuters) – Prysmian is considering a dual listing in the United States and will make a decision in the next two months, its chief executive said on Thursday, as the consolidation of Encore Wire boosted the Italian cable maker’s quarterly profit.
The Milan-listed company completed the acquisition of the U.S.-based electrical components and equipment maker in July, in a $4.2-billion deal aimed at bolstering its position in North America, its second largest market where a Wall Street listing could help it attract further investment.
“After the acquisition of Encore Wire we thought that we have now all the conditions to think and to analyse this option, we have a significant exposure in revenue and we have an even larger exposure in terms of EBITDA”, CEO Massimo Battaini told journalists.
The world’s largest cable maker is also considering buying the industrial business unit of French fiber-optic peer Nexans, Battaini added.
“There are no discussions between Nexans and Prysmian at this time on selling our industrial business unit,” a Nexans spokesperson told Reuters.
Prysmian will hold its capital markets day on March 26 in New York, when it will give further details of the potential listing, and also announce new financial targets.
It said it expects 2024 full-year adjusted core profit (EBITDA) of between 1.90 billion and 1.95 billion euros ($2.06-2.12 billion), with free cash flow in the range of 840 million to 920 million euros.
That confirms upgraded guidance published by the company in August, which envisioned a positive impact from the Encore acquisition of about 200 million euros on full-year EBITDA.
Third-quarter adjusted EBITDA rose 32% year-on-year to 540 million euros, roughly in line with a company-provided poll of analysts.
Growing sales in its transmission, power grid and industrial consumption segments offset weaknesses in its specialties segment, which the company said had dropped by 7% from a year earlier due to a slowdown in the auto market.
($1 = 0.9212 euros)
(Additional reporting by Gianluca Lo Nostro; Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Clarence Fernandez, Kirsten Donovan)
