BARCELONA (Reuters) -Spain's Fluidra said on Monday it expects sales and profitability to fall this year after rising interest rates and lower demand for swimming pools in the last quarter weighed on its business in 2022.
Fluidra's net profit fell 37% to 160 million euros ($168.51 million) in 2022, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) dropped 6.8% to 512 million euros due to "inflationary pressures", it said.
Its net profit was below Refinitiv's forecast of 189 million euros, while its EBITDA was slightly above.
The world's largest maker of swimming pool equipment was one of the winners of the pandemic lockdowns in 2020 as it benefited from wealthy customers' appetite for buying or upgrading pools, but it downgraded its outlook in October and now expects a business contraction due to "the normalization of the sector".
Sales in 2022 grew 9.2% in 2022, but were 13% lower in the last quarter compared with the same period in 2021.
Fluidra expects its 2023 sales to fall to between 2 billion euros and 2.2 billion euros and EBITDA to fall to between 410 million euros and 480 million euros.
"Demand for new (pool) residential construction will be weaker in 2023, while the aftermarket (segment) is expected to be more resilient," it said.
($1 = 0.9495 euros)