Collapse of Danish rival Demant drags Amplifon into the red

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - A weak session for Amplifon, which lost 2.79% to €13.23, penalised by the thud of Danish rival Demant, which lost 10.75% in Copenhagen after its 2025 accounts. Although they were slightly better than expected, with growth accelerating in the fourth quarter thanks to the hearing aid business and the recovery in diagnostics, what disappointed was the outlook, which was judged too cautious and lower than forecast, especially with regard to adjusted EBIT (expected to be between EUR 4.1 billion and EUR 4.5 billion, against the consensus estimate of EUR 4.65 billion). In addition to this, analysts' doubts also weighed on Amplifon's share price in view of the accounts, due on 4 March: "We do not exclude with the publication of the results also first indications on the 2026 outlook and strategy. Our revenue estimates for this year and next are 2%-3% below consensus," explains Intermonte.

Returning to Demant, fourth quarter sales reached about DKK 6.26bn, exceeding consensus forecasts by about 2%, while organic sales growth was about 5%, above the market forecast for +2.8%. Adjusted EBIT for the second half of the year reached about DKK 2.11bn, exceeding the consensus by about 1%, with an adjusted margin of 18% in line with the forecast. However, Morgan Stanley's experts speak of 'a result only marginally above expectations, mostly related to the recovery in Diagnostics and Hearing Care'. As mentioned, however, it is the outlook for the current year that is not pleasing: the company has forecast organic growth of between 3% and 6% and an adjusted EBIT before extraordinary items of between DKK 4.1 and 4.5 billion for the year, without any share buy-back programme. In addition, Demant now expects the global hearing aid market to grow by 2%-4% in 2026, a figure the company considers 'conservative and temporarily below its medium to long-term assumptions'. The negative impact of tariffs is estimated at 25 million kroner, while exchange rates are expected to weigh about 200 million on Ebit.