Amplifon slips following Gn Hearing’s disappointing quarterly results

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Danish firm GN Hearing’s disappointing quarterly results drag down Amplifon on the stock market. LThe Hearing division of the Danish group Gn Store Nord, recently acquired by Amplifon itself, closed the second quarter of 2026 with an organic revenue decline of 2 per cent, compared with the 8 per cent growth recorded in the same period of 2025. According to Intermonte, this was due to the “weak performance of a major US client” and the negative impact of exchange rates; as a result, reported revenue fell by 5% to 273 million euros (1,772 million Danish kroner). Adjusted EBITDA, however, stood at 43 million euros (321 million kroner), with a margin of 18.1 per cent, compared with 20.6 per cent in the April–June 2025 period. The company also recorded one-off costs of 58 million Danish kroner (7.8 million euros) relating to the sale of the division to Amplifon.

Looking at the half-year results, Gn Hearing’s revenue recorded organic growth of 3 per cent to 3,527 million Danish kroner (471.8 million euros), a level deemed by Intermonte to be ‘consistent with the standalone growth assumptions from 2027, the first year of integration with Amplifon, onwards’. Adjusted EBITDA, meanwhile, stood at 621 million Danish kroner (83 million euros), with a margin of 17.6 per cent. All this against a general backdrop of falling results, albeit less than expected, for Gn Store Nord (-5.63% in Copenhagen). The company, which upon completion of the acquisition of the Hearing division will receive 1.69 billion euros in cash and 56 million Amplifon shares, saw its revenue fall by 7 per cent to 4,267 million kroner in the first half of 2026 and has cut its guidance on annual growth, whilst revising its margin estimates upwards.

Despite today’s falls, analysts still see the glass as half full. “We believe that this quarter’s results are not representative of Gn Hearing’s potential”, “as they were influenced by specific, non-recurring factors”. For this reason, explains Intermonte, “the acquisition remains highly attractive for Amplifon, offering annual synergies of 70–80 million euros, of which around 85 per cent stems from the in-house production of hearing aids – a benefit that is therefore particularly tangible and easily achievable.”

Furthermore, as the experts point out, in a recent interview with *La Repubblica*, CEO Enrico Vita explained that Gn will continue to operate as an independent company, partly with a view to preserving the wholesale channel to third-party retailers. At the same time, Amplifon is expected to ‘gradually increase the proportion of GN devices from the current 40 per cent to around 90 per cent of sales volumes, whilst maintaining a residual share of around 10 per cent with other suppliers to ensure adequate competition and continue to foster product innovation’, according to Intermonte. This could also be of interest in light of the new launches from the Danish division, which has announced the market launch of ReSound Sensia (and the corresponding Beltone Illuminate), a new family of hearing aids based on the group’s new AI platform, designed to improve hearing in noisy environments. Furthermore, Intermonte emphasises that, thanks to Gn Hearing, ‘Amplifon will also double its exposure to the US to 30 per cent of revenue, thereby strengthening its presence in the world’s leading hearing care market’.

Citi also maintains a positive view of the deal, despite today’s disappointing quarterly results ‘weighing on Amplifon’s share price’. ‘Gn’s performance has no impact on the forecasts’ for the company led by Vita ‘for 2026, as the deal is not expected to be finalised before the end of the 2026 financial year’, the analysts explain. Furthermore, the launch of ReSound Sensia, with ‘features that have proved highly successful among audiologists’, is expected to ‘support improving growth through to 2027’. Finally, Citi’s estimates – which maintain a ‘buy’ rating on Amplifon with a target price of 16.5 euros – ‘already factor in dis-synergies of around 6–7 per cent (compared with around 1–5 per cent in previous transactions) and, consequently, have already largely factored in the impact of a disappointing quarter for Gn’.