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MADRID, Feb 26 (Reuters) – Spanish swimming pool builder Fluidra said on Friday it will use the cash it earned in 2020 as net profit jumped eleven-fold to swallow up rivals this year.
Annual net profit jumped to 96 million euros ($116.57 million) from 8.4 million euros in 2019 as COVID lockdowns around the world boosted demand for residential swimming pools, the company said. Sales climbed 8.8% to 1.49 billion euros.
With early figures from January and February pointing to continued strong demand, the company expects 2021 sales growth of between 6% and 9% and a rise in earnings per share of between 12% and 20%.
The Barcelona-based company has a long history of mergers and acquisitions in a fragmented industry and the cash generated in 2020, as earnings before interest, taxes and amortisation rose 29%, will allow it to look for new opportunities, mainly in the United States, the world’s biggest market.
Pool manufacturing and maintenance was among businesses buoyed by the pandemic, as more people chose to swim at home, avoiding community pools and beaches.
Fluidra’s share price was up 1.6% in mid-morning trading, after gaining more than 75% over the past year.
Demand is such that the backlog will keep the company busy for most of 2021, including during the usually slow months of the Northern Hemisphere’s winter.
Fluidra’s chief executive Bruce Brooks said in December many of its providers were fully booked until July and some for all of 2021.
The company added that more pools being built now meant more maintenance revenue in the future. ($1 = 0.8235 euros) (Reporting by Inti Landauro; editing by Nathan Allen, Kirsten Donovan)
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