Maire continues rally after maxi order in Algeria

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - The rally of Maire at Piazza Affari continues after the new $1.1 billion order in Algeria. The stock, which was boosted by the capital market day three days ago, lengthens its stride and rises about five points, marking an overall rise of about 31% in the eighth quarter. On the eve of the day, Maire announced that its subsidiary Tecnimont had been awarded a petrochemical engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning contract by Sonatrach for the construction of a new linear alkyl benzene sulphonate (Lab) plant in the Skikda industrial zone, 350 kilometres east of Algiers.

The plant will have a production capacity of 100,000 tonnes per year. The project also includes the construction of the relevant utilities, infrastructure and interconnections with existing installations. Completion is expected within 44 months from the effective date of the contract.

Analysts at Equita raise the target price to 7.50, confirming the buy recommendation, as "the project has a considerable size and represents almost 20% of the estimated order intake for 2024". During the capital market day on 5 March, the group had announced a sustained order book in the order of 6 billion for this year. "We now understand why Maire's top management has outlined a very strong market outlook and appeared very confident of being able to announce the award of significant new contracts in the short term," add Intermonte's analysts, who confirm an 'outperform' recommendation and a €7 price target.