Berenberg Cuts Avolta Forecasts on EMEA, North America Challenges; Buy Rating Kept

06:03 AM EDT, 07/16/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Berenberg lowered its first-half earnings forecasts for Avolta (AVOL.SW), noting the group's second-quarter performance was "weaker than expected" amid challenges in its EMEA and North America segments. The research firm said Wednesday it reduced its first-half organic growth estimate for the Swiss travel retailer by 30 basis points to 3.8%. Its revenue and core EBITDA projections for the six-month period are also down by 0.5% and 5.4% to 6.44 billion francs and 578 million francs, respectively. "Since our longer piece on Avolta at the end of May (Country, category and cash resilience; Buy), we have seen a resumption of hostilities in the Middle East, as well as a tick down in US air passenger growth and depressed traffic at major airports like Heathrow. We expect that these factors have affected the company's two largest segments, EMEA and North America. As a result, we reduce our FY26 organic growth estimates from 5.0% to 4.7%," analysts noted. The research firm's EPS estimates for 2026 through 2028 were also lowered, reflecting higher interest costs from Avolta's recent refinancing. On the flip side, sales projections were raised across the three-year period. Against this backdrop, the stock's buy rating was unchanged, while the price target was lowered to 56 francs from 59 francs.