(Reuters) -French stationery maker Societe BIC on Wednesday cut its annual guidance for 2025 as first-quarter results missed market expectations, hit by a deteriorating trade environment, notably in the United States.
OUTLOOK
The producer of the famous Bic Cristal pen cut its yearly guidance for 2025, lowering its expected net sales growth to between 0% and 3% at constant currency versus between 4% and 6% published originally.
It also lowered slightly its adjusted EBIT margin forecast to around 15.0% from 15.6%.
BY THE NUMBERS
Net sales for the period stood at 478 million euros ($543.29 million), down 7% year-on-year on a constant currency basis, and below an average estimate of 497 million among analysts polled by the company.
KEY QUOTE
“In a volatile trading environment, marked by softer consumer confidence and ongoing tariff uncertainty, our categories saw a sharper-than-expected decline in Q1, further impacted by strong prior-year comparables”, said BIC’s CEO Gonzalve Bich in a press release.
WHY IT MATTERS
The producer is particularly vulnerable to the recent U.S. tariffs and trade tension surrounding them, as the firm operates in a price-driven market, where consumer anxiety and inflationary pressures could hamper demand.
CONTEXT
The North America market is no longer the firm’s biggest by net sales. Sales in the period fell to 167 million euros from almost 191 million the previous year.
($1 = 0.8798 euros)
(Reporting by Mateusz RabiegaEditing by Alexandra Hudson)
