Aryzta Shares Plunge Amid Lower First-half Earnings, German Business Review; Capital Returns Planned in 2027
Aryzta (ARYN.SW) shares fell sharply on Monday morning after the Swiss bakery company reported lower first-half earnings and launched a review of its underperforming German business, overshadowing plans to resume shareholder returns after a decade-long hiatus.Shares were down more than 12% in early morning trading in Zürich.Attributable profit for the six months ended June 30 slipped to 47.2 million euros from 49.1 million euros a year earlier, while revenue edged down to 1.06 billion euros from 1.09 billion euros.The company attributed the revenue decline to weaker performance in Europe, particularly Germany, which offset growth in the rest-of-world segment. Revenue in Europe was 942.7 million euros, while the rest-of-world segment contributed 121.2 million euros.Aryzta has launched a review for its business in Germany, which remained its most challenged market during the recent period. The company cited high price sensitivity, fragile consumer spending and certain additional bakery capacity as challenges in the German market."While H1 was challenging, we accelerated cost optimization measures to protect profitability. These measures are delivering attractive savings and, together with good visibility on our key input costs, support our confidence in achieving our profitability guidance for the full year," Chairman and Interim Group Chief Executive Urs Jordi said.The company is targeting organic growth at the lower end of its low-to-mid-single-digit guidance range for 2026."The board is pleased to confirm that shareholders will be asked to approve the resumption of capital returns at the 2027 AGM. Our approach is to evolve this progressively towards a payout ratio comparable to Swiss listed SMEs," Jordi also said, noting that the distributions could be in the shape of dividends, share buybacks, or a combination of both.
